Catalytic Activity of Various Carbons during the Microwave-Initiated Deep Dehydrogenation of Hexadecane

Abstract

Carbon materials have been widely used as microwave susceptors in many chemical processes because they are highly effective at transforming incoming electromagnetic energy for local (hot spot) heating. This property raises the intriguing possibility of using the all-pervasive carbonaceous deposits in operating heterogeneous catalytic processes to augment the catalytic performance of microwave-initiated reactions. Here, the catalytic activities of a range of carbon materials, together with carbon residues produced from a “test” reaction—the dehydrogenation of hexadecane under microwave-initiated heterogeneous catalytic processes, have been investigated. Despite the excellent microwave absorption properties observed among these various carbons, only activated carbons and graphene nanoplatelets were found to be highly effective for the microwave-initiated dehydrogenation of hexadecane. During the dehydrogenation of hexadecane on a Fe/SiC catalyst, active carbon species were formed at the early stage of the reactions but were subsequently transformed into filamentous but catalytically inert carbons that ultimately deactivated the operating catalyst.