B2O3 supported La0.8Sr0.2FeO3 for direct ethane oxidation into ethylene and syngas for hydroformylation synthesis

Abstract

Hydroformylation is an important reaction for aldehydes synthesis and requires ethylene and syngas (CO + H₂) with the feedstocks. While these feedstocks are typically synthesized separately, it would be highly desirable to directly convert abundant ethane into ethylene and syngas in a single step. In this work, we loaded B₂O₃ onto a perovskite La_0.8Sr_0.2FeO₃ (LSF) and formed a core-shell structured catalyst, with B₂O₃ and Sr₃B₂O₆ being the shell and LSF being the core. The shell structure can substantially inhibit deep oxidation of ethane into CO₂ and the optimized La_0.8Sr_0.2FeO₃@20B₂O₃ can achieve 69.2% ethane conversion and 88.8% ethylene + syngas selectivity at 700 °C with good stability, with the ratio of CO/H₂ close to 1:1. The effects of reaction temperature, space velocity, B₂O₃ loading, and La/Sr were also investigated. This catalyst marks a promising progress for the direct oxidation of ethane and has good potential for industrial applications.