Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane over NiO–CeO2 mixed oxides catalysts

[EN] In this paper we present the synthesis, characterization and catalytic behaviour in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane of NiO-CeO2 mixed oxides. The addition of cerium oxide to NiO strongly modifies its catalytic performance, although the changes in the catalytic behaviour depend on the catalyst composition. The incorporation of low amounts of cerium oxide to NiO multiplies the productivity to ethylene in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane by a factor of ca. 7, which is the result of an increase in both catalytic activity and selectivity to ethylene. The enhanced activity has been related to the remarkable increase of the surface area of catalyst and the low crystal sizes of …