Xinhua News Agency Tianjin, July 19 (Reporter Zhang Jianxin, Bai Jialai) Reporters learned from Tianjin University that the new energy chemical team of Tianjin University has successfully developed a low-cost and environmentally friendly new propylene catalyst, laying a scientific foundation for the next generation of olefin core technology. The breakthrough research results were published in the early morning of July 19 in the form of a cover paper in Science magazine.

The cover of the July 19 issue of Science. (Photo provided by Tianjin University)

Propylene is one of the most productive chemicals in the world, and it is also an important basic chemical raw material in the fields of plastics, rubber and medicine, and the propylene industry is of great strategic significance to the global petrochemical industry chain. In 2023, China's propylene production will account for about one third of the world's total output, with a total output value of over 600 billion yuan.

Among many propylene production technologies, propane dehydrogenation process has become the mainstream due to its high economic efficiency and low oil dependence. However, the traditional propane dehydrogenation catalyst raw materials are scarce and expensive, and the environment pollution is serious, leading to the sustainable development of the industry. More efficient, cheaper and more environmentally friendly next-generation propylene catalysts have become the commanding heights of science and technology that the global chemical industry is competing to seize.

Under the leadership of Professor Gong Jinlong, the new energy chemical team of Tianjin University, in view of the status quo that traditional propane dehydrogenation catalysts often use precious metals or highly toxic elements, boldly put forward the scientific hypothesis of using inexpensive and environmentally friendly oxides to generate electronic interaction with metals to promote the catalytic process. According to this idea, the team spent 5 years to develop the titanium-nickel composite catalyst.

Titanium oxide coating catalyzes propane dehydrogenation mediated by metal-oxide interaction. (Photo provided by Tianjin University)

Dr. Chen Sai, co-first author of the paper and School of Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, said that the world's titanium and nickel resources are rich, and China is a major titanium resource country. The experimental results show that the performance of this new catalyst is better than that of similar international products, and the cost can be saved by 30% to 50%, and at the same time, the preparation of the catalyst, the use of the process of non-toxic and low energy consumption. This lays a scientific foundation for the development of the next generation of efficient, cheap, environmentally sustainable propylene catalysts.

The Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is also involved in the collaborative research.

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