Pyrolysed polyacrylonitrile (PPAN)-a novel and highly selective catalyst for the oxidative dehydrogenation of butene to butadiene

The oxidative dehydrogenation of 1-butene to butadienes over pyrolysed polyacrylonitrile (PPAN), a novel catalyst for the process has been studied. The catalyst was found to be considerably more active than conventional dehydrogenation catalysts, and appears more stable under reaction conditions. Higher conversions and better selectivity were obtained at much reduced temperatures (from about 250°C). The Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism, which assumes that surface reaction between adsorbed oxygen and butene species is rate controlling, has been used to explain the experimental results.