Methane activation without using oxidants over Mo/HZSM-5 zeolite catalysts

The effect of Mo loading, calcination temperature, reaction temperature and space velocity on the catalytic performance of methane dehydrogenation and aromatization without using oxidants over Mo/HZSM-5 has been studied. The XRD and BET measurements show that Mo species are highly dispersed in the channels of the HZSM-5 zeolite, resulting from the interaction between the Mo species and the zeolite, which also leads to a decrease in its crystallinity. The Brønsted acidity, the channel structure and the state and location of Mo species in the zeolite seem to be crucial factors for its catalytic performance. It was found that 2% Mo/HZSM-5 calcined at 773 K showed the best aromatization activity among the tested catalysts, the methane conversion being 9% at 1013 K with the selectivity to aromatics higher than 90%. The experimental results obtained from the variation of space velocity gave evidence that ethylene is an initial product. On the basis of these results a possible mechanism for methane dehydrogenation and aromatization has been proposed in which both the heterolytic splitting of methane in a solid acid environment and a molybdenum carbene-like complex as an intermediate are of significance.