Evidence-Grounded Multicriteria Prioritization of Methylcyclohexane Dehydrogenation Catalysts Using CRITIC–TOPSIS

Liquid organic hydrogen carriers require catalysts that balance catalytic performance, operating severity, stability-related properties, and cost. This study applies a CRITIC-TOPSIS framework based on the literature to prioritize nine catalysts for methylcyclohexane dehydrogenation under a nominal scenario targeting 18,000 t H2 yr−1. Eight source-reported descriptors were used: operating temperature, H2-release rate, fresh-catalyst cost, process cost, MCH conversion, reaction or test time, BET surface area, and toluene selectivity. The CRITIC weights reproduced from the supplied calculation annex were highest for selectivity (18.60%), BET surface area (15.72%), and reported time (13.95%). TOPSIS ranked 0.4 wt.% Pt/CB first and 1 wt.% Pt/AC second, with closeness coefficients of 66.09% and 58.94%, respectively. The result is a screening outcome rather than an intrinsic kinetic comparison because the source experiments were not harmonized and the reporting bases for release rate and reaction time were not uniform. Activation energy, turnover frequency, and active-site-specific activity were not calculated because common kinetic and site-density data were unavailable. No formal sensitivity analysis was performed because the supplied sources contained neither evidence-based uncertainty intervals nor a documented perturbation protocol. The process-cost criterion was strongly correlated with operating temperature (r = 0.959), indicating partial duplication of operating-severity information. The ranking therefore identifies candidates for standardized validation and does not establish universal catalyst superiority.