CO2 utilization for the formation of styrene from ethylbenzene over zirconia-supported iron oxide catalysts

Dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with carbon dioxide has been carried out ov er zirconia-based catalysts. Carbon dioxide in this reaction was found to p lay a beneficial role as an oxidant for promoting catalytic activity. The a ddition of a ceria promoter to zirconia improved the catalytic activity sig nificantly, which was attributed to increasing basicity as well as oxygen v ancancies, The loading of iron oxide onto only zirconia among zirconia-rela ted materials is effective for improving the activity. Copyright (C) 2000 J ohn Wiley & Sons, Ltd.