Molybdenum–vanadium supported on mesoporous alumina catalysts for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane

Abstract Vanadium and/or molybdenum oxides supported on mesoporous alumina have been prepared by a “wet” impregnation method, characterized (by using several physico-chemical techniques TPR, DR-UV–vis, Raman spectroscopies) and tested in the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of ethane. For comparison Mo–V-mixed oxides supported on γ-Al2O3 have also been studied. The characterization results indicate that the main vanadium species in both Mo-free and Mo-containing V-based samples present low aggregation and coordination, whereas molybdenum is present as monomeric or polymeric tetrahedral molybdenum species. Interestingly, no apparent interaction between molybdenum and vanadia takes place. The …