Ethane Dehydrogenation over Nanostructured Ga‐Ce Bimetallic Oxide Catalysts Using N₂O as Oxidant

In this work, a series of nanostructured gallium‐cerium bimetallic oxide catalysts with different molar ratios are prepared as fibers and aerogels. Their catalytic behavior is evaluated for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane aiming the production of ethylene. N 2 O is chosen as an oxidant and the catalysts activity and selectivity toward ethylene are correlated with their morphology, crystallite size, reducibility, and acid‐base properties. The best results are obtained over the fibers and, in general, the catalysts with the lowest Ga‐Ce molar ratio show the highest ethylene selectivity. Their good catalytic performance and the differences observed between aerogels and fibers are attributed to the synergistic interactions established during the incorporation of Ga 3+ cations into the crystalline structure of ceria, either by simple insertion into its interstices (aerogels) or by Ce 4+ substitution (fibers). Furthermore, the activity of the catalysts increases with increasing basicity and decreasing crystallite size, but the increase in selectivity toward ethylene correlates better with the decrease in reducibility of the catalysts. To the best of one's knowledge, the obtained results are comparable to the best reported in the literature using N 2 O or CO 2 as an oxidant, confirming the potential of gallium‐cerium bimetallic oxides as catalysts for this reaction.