In situ XRD studies of the effect of catalyst pre-treatment strategies on the bulk structure and performance of Mo-V-Te-Nb catalysts for selective oxidation of propane.

Current research efforts are concentrated towards utilizing propane rather than propylene as the feedstock in the industrial process for producing acrylic acid because of its significant lower price. The discovery of the MoVTe family of catalysts has brought this goal within sight. This study investigates the effect of different calcination protocols using in situ XRD. A series of catalyst precursors were treated at different calcination temperatures and atmospheres, while analysing their structures with XRD. The conditions necessary for crystallization of known active phases were determined. The activity of the same catalysts was also tested using a nanoflow high throughput reactor. A structure – activity study leads to correlations between synthesis, phase equilibria and performance of these Mo-V-Te-Nb catalysts for selective oxidation of propane