A composite support of CoO x –SiO2 was obtained through modifying silica with cobalt of different loadings; with CoO x –SiO2 as the support, a series of Pd/CoO x –SiO2 catalysts were prepared for the combustion of lean methane at low temperature. The effects of CoO loading and palladium precursor on the catalytic performance of Pd/CoO x –SiO2 were investigated. The Pd/CoO x –SiO2 catalyst containing 20 wt% CoO and 1 wt% Pd with acetate as palladium precursor performs excellently in lean methane combustion; over it a complete conversion of methane can be achieved at 420 °C and the activity does not show any decline in a long-term test of 120 h. Various characterizations suggested that cobalt species are highly dispersed on the silica of high surface area and there exists a synergetic interaction between palladium and cobalt species, which improves the redox properties of Pd/CoO x –SiO2 and contributes to the excellent catalytic performance in lean methane combustion.

Zeolite ZSM-23 materials with different Si/Al ratios were synthesized under static hydrothermal conditions using pyrrolidine as template. The samples obtained were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption/desorption, ICP atom emission, scanning electron microscopy and FTIR of adsorbed pyridine, and were found to be very highly efficient and stable catalysts for the catalytic cracking of C4 alkane.

Various effects on the synthesis of titanium silicalite-1 (TS-1) were discussed in the non-TPAOH (tetrapropyl ammonium hydroxide) inorganic reactant synthesis system, in which cheap colloidal silica and TiCl3 aqueous solution, TiCl4 were used as the silicon and titanium sources, respectively, TPABr (tetrapropyl ammonium bromide) as the template reagent, and weak organic bases as the base source to provide the alkalinity needed for crystallization. The influence of diverse synthesis parameters such as different base sources, SiO2/TiO2 ratio, silicon source, titanium source, amounts of template, N2 protection, seed crystals, aging period, amount of water, crystallization temperature, and crystallization time have been investigated in detail.

There has been an increasing interest in recent years in catalytic cracking of mixed C4 alkene to produce ethylene and propylene over zeolite catalysts. Among numerous catalysts which are used in such a process, the zeolite ZSM-23 showed distinctive potential. In this report, pure and well-crystallized ZSM-23 (MTT) catalyst was synthesized under static hydrothermal conditions using pyrrolidine as template. The product obtained was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), ICP atom emission, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal analysis (TGA-DTA) and FTIR of adsorbed pyridine. The ZSM-23 was used as catalyst in mixed C4 alkene cracking and showed very high catalytic activity and yields of ethylene and propylene. The effects of reaction temperature, WHSV crystallite size, pore size and Si/Al ratio on the catalytic activity were also studied in detail.