Abstract
La
2
O
3
nanorods were prepared by simple hydrothermal synthesis method. Yttrium oxide (1, 3, 5 and 7 wt%) supported La
2
O
3
and SO
4
2−
incorporated La
2
O
3
nanorods were prepared impregnation method and used as catalysts in oxidative cracking of
n
-propane. The pure La
2
O
3
nanorods exhibited 15%
n
-propane conversion with 22% olefins (ethane and propene) selectivity. Considerable improvement in
n
-propane conversion was observed in case of 3 wt% yttrium oxide supported on La
2
O
3
nanorods (25% conversion of
n
-propane and 36% selectivity to olefins) at reaction temperature of 550 °C. Interestingly, 5 wt% yttrium oxide supported 10 wt% SO
4
2−
/La
2
O
3
nanorod sample exhibited superior performance in
n
-propane conversion (42%) and olefins selectivity (54%). The yttrium oxide loading and sulfation of La
2
O
3
nanorods influenced the catalytic activity. The characterization of synthesized nanomaterials was performed using elemental analysis, XRD, FT-IR, N
2
-physisorption, SEM, XPS and H
2
-TPR techniques. The obtained results indicated that yttrium oxide was highly dispersed over the La
2
O
3
nanorods because of strong interaction between the two rare earth metal oxides. Additionally, deposition of yttrium oxide to sulfated La
2
O
3
nanorods increased the surface area and the amount of Lewis acid sites (for the activation of
n
-propane) on La
2
O
3
nanorods. Yttrium oxide supported sulfated La
2
O
3
catalyst showed no deactivation during the 24 h of reaction and without coke formation.
Graphic Abstract