Catalytic transformation of shale gas components to chemical intermediates of chemical industries for production of chemical commodities has been the main approach in utilization of shale gas. Synthesis of benzene-related hydrocarbons from shale gas components can be done through two steps including reforming and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Parallel to this two-step route, aromatization of light hydrocarbons, the main components of shale gas is a one-step transformation. Ga-based catalysts active for aromatization of light hydrocarbons were reported in literatures. The main challenges in this aromatization are the rapid deactivation and low selectivity for production of benzene. In this talk, I will present our fundamental understanding of aromatization of ethane and propane to benzene-related molecules on Ga-based bimetallic catalyst nanoparticles integrated with zeolite. Active phases of Ga-based bimetallic catalysts were identified. Coordination and chemical environments of the two catalysts during catalysis were tracked with operando EXAFS. Correlations between activity/selectivity for aromatization of ethane and propane and the corresponding catalyst structures were revealed. In addition, I will discuss the deactivation of these catalysts based on operando studies using EXAFS. Through confining catalyst nanoparticles in the frame of zeolite, new Ga-based catalyst was synthesized.  This catalyst exhibits high selectivity and durability. I will discuss the difference of catalysts synthesized with the two different methods from the angle of correlation between catalytic performance and their corresponding active phases during catalysis explored with operando techniques.<br/>

Aromatization of C2-C3 molecules to benzene-related molecules

255th National Meeting (2018)

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