Preparation of Pt supported on mesoporous Mg–Al oxide catalysts for efficient dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane

Hydrogen energy, characterizing by high-energy density, non-pollution and renewability, is regarded as an ideal clean green energy, and the chemical hydrogen storage is an optimal strategy to realize its large-scale utilization. In this study, to enhance the hydrogen evolution rate in the dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane (MCH), Pt supported on Mg–Al oxide catalysts were prepared and the effects of the co-precipitation reaction time during the preparation of Mg–Al hydrotalcite on their structural properties were studied in detail. The results showed that both the pore diameter and Pt dispersion were increased after prolonging the precipitation reaction time. During the dehydrogenation of MCH, these resultant catalysts presented high activity and good stability: hydrogen evolution rate reached up to 1892 mmol·gPt−1 min−1 at 623 K and the conversion was still held at 92% after 218 h. Of course, a slight decrease on the conversion during the dehydrogenation reaction was also observed, which was mainly attributed to the aggregation of Pt particles at high temperature.