Efficient Non‐Precious Metal Catalyst for Propane Dehydrogenation: Atomically Dispersed Cobalt‐nitrogen Compounds on Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract A hybrid catalyst comprising atomically dispersed cobalt‐nitrogen compounds anchoring on oxidized carbon nanotubes (OCNTs) is prepared and applied in propane dehydrogenation (PDH) reactions. The proposed non‐precious catalyst exhibits high initial conversion (∼20 %) and excellent selectivity of propene (>95 %), which is superior to those of metal‐free nanocarbon and some metal‐based catalysts. The chemical composition and structure of the proposed hybrid catalysts are elucidated by a series of characterizations and control experiments with a single component. These characterization results combined with the kinetic analysis indicate that the catalytic activity mainly originates from the cobalt‐nitrogen (Co−N) species supported on the OCNT surface. The present work sheds light on the structure‐function relationships of CoN catalysts, paving the way to develop non‐precious catalysts for PDH reactions.