Propylene, which is essential in the production of various products such as plastics, fibers, automotive parts, and electronic devices, is considered a key raw material in the petrochemical industry. Domestic researchers have developed a novel catalyst that allows for the inexpensive and efficient production of propylene.
Professor Choi Min-ki of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and his research team noted on the 12th that they have developed a catalyst using a minimal amount of platinum at 100 ppm (parts per million) based on inexpensive metal gallium and alumina. The research findings were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on Feb. 13.
Propylene can be produced through the 'propane dehydrogenation (PDH)' process, which removes hydrogen from propane. Platinum catalysts have been widely used in this process. Platinum is very effective at breaking the bonds between carbon and hydrogen and removing hydrogen. However, platinum is expensive and its performance degrades with repeated use.
The research team designed a catalyst that uses only the necessary amount of platinum based on gallium and alumina to solve these problems. Gallium activates the carbon-hydrogen bonds in propane, releasing hydrogen to produce propylene, while platinum combines the remaining hydrogen atoms on the surface and converts them into gaseous hydrogen for removal from the catalyst surface. The two metals share roles to reduce platinum usage while maintaining catalyst performance.
Particularly, performance was highest when the ratio of platinum to gallium was optimized. This catalyst showed better performance than conventional catalysts using 10,000 ppm of high-concentration platinum. The research team scientifically explained this ideal composition ratio and presented a predictable quantitative indicator.
Additionally, the research team addressed the 'sintering' phenomenon, a major weakness of conventional platinum catalysts, where platinum particles clump together and performance drops sharply with repeated use. They successfully added a small amount of cerium to suppress the agglomeration of platinum particles. As a result, catalyst performance was stably maintained even after more than 20 cycles of reaction and regeneration.
Professor Choi Min-ki said, 'This research suggests the possibility of reducing platinum usage to one-hundredth of the current level while maintaining or even enhancing performance,' and added, 'We can expect economic and environmental benefits such as reduced catalyst expense, decreased replacement cycles, and less waste catalyst.'
He also added, 'We plan to review the feasibility of large-scale process demonstrations and commercialization in the future, and if applied in industry, the economy and efficiency of propylene production will significantly improve.'
References
Journal of the American Chemical Society (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c13787