In heterogeneous catalysis, the catalytic dehydrogenation reactions of hydrocarbons often exhibit a negative pressure dependence on hydrogen due to the competitive chemisorption of hydrocarbons and hydrogen. However, some catalysts show a positive pressure dependence for propane dehydrogenation, an important reaction for propylene production. Here we show that the positive activity dependence on H2 partial pressure of gallium oxide-based catalysts arises from metastable hydride mediation. Through in situ spectroscopic, kinetic and computational analyses, we demonstrate that under reaction conditions with H2 co-feeding, the dissociative adsorption of H2 on a partially reduced gallium oxide surface produces H atoms chemically bonded to coordinatively unsaturated Ga atoms. These metastable gallium hydride species promote C-H bond activation while inhibiting deep dehydrogenation. We found that the surface coverage of gallium hydride determines the catalytic performance. Accordingly, benefiting from proper H2 co-feeding, the alumina-supported, trace additive-modified gallium oxide catalyst GaOx-Ir-K/Al2O3 exhibited high activity and selectivity at high propane concentrations.

Guodong Sun, Zhi-Jian Zhao, Lulu Li, Chunlei Pei, Xin Chang, Sai Chen, Tingting Zhang, Kaige Tian, Shijia Sun, Lirong Zheng, and Jinlong Gong*. Metastable gallium hydride mediates propane dehydrogenation on H2 co-feeding. Nat. Chem. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01392-x