Dehydrogenation of Isobutane with Carbon Dioxide over SBA-15-Supported Vanadium Oxide Catalysts

A series of vanadia catalysts supported on SBA-15 (V/SBA) with a vanadia (V) content ranging from 1% to 11% were prepared by an incipient wetness method. Their catalytic behavior in the dehydrogenation of isobutane to isobutene with CO2 was examined. The catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). It was found that these catalysts were effective for the dehydrogenation reaction, and the catalytic activity is correlated with the amount of dispersed vanadium species on the SBA-15 support. The 7% V/SBA catalyst shows the highest activity, which gives 40.8% isobutane conversion and 84.8% isobutene selectivity. The SBA-15-supported vanadia exhibits higher isobutane conversion and isobutene selectivity than the MCM-41-supported one.