New catalyst is 10 times more efficient for propylene production

In a year when manufacturing supply chains have been hit hard, another shortage is making productive life harder for manufacturers and consumers: plastics – especially for food packaging, auto parts, apparel, medical and laboratory equipment, and countless other items that depend on them. But new research from the University of Michigan offers hope. Researchers at the university have developed a new chemical catalyst that can make propylene from propane, a component of natural gas. The catalyst is active, selective and stable in the non-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane and is at least 10 times more efficient in making propylene than current commercial catalysts. The new study was published in the recent issue of Science.

Aluminum oxide is used as the support structure in conventional catalysts. The alumina reacts with tin, separating it from the platinum and allowing the catalyst to decompose. The key innovation of the new catalyst is that it is made of platinum and tin nanoparticles that are supported by silica. This structure prevents the reaction from taking place, so the new catalyst has a longer lifetime.

Meanwhile, conventional propylene production requires the addition of hydrogen, so efficiency has been low. The new catalyst makes propylene from propane without the addition of hydrogen through a process called “non-oxidative dehydrogenation.

The key to commercializing the catalyst is finding a way to regenerate it after it has been contaminated, the researchers said. The next step, says senior author Suljo Linnik, is to develop a system for the new catalyst that will allow it to be regenerated quickly and efficiently after contamination.

Although the catalyst is still in the research stage, it is likely to boost the global supply of propylene. Propylene is known to be used as a feedstock to make about 8 million tons of polypropylene plastic each year. Soaring global demand for plastics, production problems caused by the New Crown pneumonia outbreak and other events have led to a severe shortage of global propylene supplies.