A method of oxidative dehydrogenating of butane stream comprises contacting the same with a bimetallic catalyst in the presence of oxygen, wherein the bimetallic catalyst containing nickel and bismuth or oxides thereof supported on solid support such as zirconium oxide, low aluminum MFI zeolite, and mesoporous silica foam. Various embodiments of the method of oxidative dehydrogenating the butane-containing hydrocarbon stream and the bimetallic catalyst are also provided.

The reaction rate of hydrocarbon pyrolysis can be increased to produce solid carbon and hydrogen by the use of molten materials which have catalytic functionality to increase the rate of reaction and physical properties that facilitate the formation and contamination-free separation of the solid carbon. Processes, materials, reactor configurations, and conditions are disclosed whereby methane and other hydrocarbons can be decomposed at high reaction rates into hydrogen gas and carbon products without any carbon oxides in a single reaction step. The process also makes use of specific properties of selected materials with unique solubilities and/or wettability of products into (and/or by) the molten phase to facilitate generation of purified products and increased conversion in more general reactions.

A process for preparing a catalyst includes impregnating a metal oxide carrier with an aqueous solution to form an impregnated carrier; drying the impregnated carrier to form a dried, impregnated carrier; and heat-treating the dried, impregnated carrier in air to form the catalyst; wherein: the aqueous solution includes a copper salt; and from about 3 wt % to about 15 wt % of a C.sub.3-C.sub.6 multifunctional carboxylic acid; and the catalyst includes from about 5 wt % to about 50 wt % copper oxide.

A process of methane catalytic conversion produces olefins, aromatics, and hydrogen under oxygen-free, continuous flowing conditions. Such a process has little coke deposition and realizes atom-economic conversion. Under the conditions encountered in a fixed bed reactor (i.e. reaction temperature: 750-1200 C.; reaction pressure: atmospheric pressure; the weight hourly space velocity of feed gas: 1000-30000 ml/g/h; and fixed bed), conversion of methane is 8-50%. The selectivity of olefins is 30-90%. And selectivity of aromatics is 10-70%. The catalyst for this methane conversion has a SiO.sub.2-based matrix having active species that are formed by confining dopant metal atoms in the lattice of the matrix.

Oxidative dehydrogenation catalysts comprising bismuth and nickel oxides impregnated on mesoporous silica supports such as SBA-15 and mesoporous silica foam. Methods of preparing and characterizing the catalysts as well as processes for oxidatively dehydrogenating n-butane to butadiene using the catalysts are also described. The disclosed catalysts demonstrate higher n-butane conversion and butadiene selectivity than catalysts supported by conventional silica.

Disclosed are stable, active non-precious metal oxide catalysts, such as transition metal antimonates (TMAs), for electrochemical reactions in harsh media conditions, such as the chlorine evolution reaction (CER). A disclosed electrocatalyst includes a metal oxide film containing a crystalline transition metal antimonite (TMA). The crystalline TMA may include NiSb.sub.2O.sub.x, CoSb.sub.2O.sub.x, or MnSb.sub.2O.sub.x. The metal oxide film may be formed on a conductive substrate, for example, a substrate including an antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) film, using an annealing process.

A process for preparing a catalyst includes impregnating a metal oxide carrier with an aqueous solution to form an impregnated carrier; drying the impregnated carrier to form a dried, impregnated carrier; and heat-treating the dried, impregnated carrier in air to form the catalyst; wherein: the aqueous solution includes a copper salt; and from about 3 wt % to about 15 wt % of a C.sub.3-C.sub.6 multifunctional carboxylic acid; and the catalyst includes from about 5 wt % to about 50 wt % copper oxide.

A process of forming an ethynylation catalyst includes providing a slurry including water, a copper-containing material, a bismuth-containing material, a structural material, and a binder; spray-drying the slurry to form particles; and calcining the particles to form the ethynylation catalyst.

A composition of formula
Ce.sub.1-a-b-cN.sub.aM.sub.bD.sub.cO.sub.xI
wherein M stands for one or more elements from the group of alkaline metals, except sodium, N is Bi and/or Sb, D is present, or is not present, and if present is selected from one or more of Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba; Y, La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Er; Fe, Zr, Nb, Al; a is a number within the range of 0<a0.9, b is a number within the range of 0<b0.3, c is a number within the range of 0<c0.2, a plus b plus c is <1, and x is a number within the range of 1.2x2, and its use for exhaust gas aftertreatment systems of Diesel engines, gasoline combustion engines, lean burn engines and power plants.

A composition comprising a ternary intermetallic compound X.sub.2YZ, wherein X, Y, and Z are different from one another; X being selected from the group consisting of Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Pd; Y being selected from the group consisting of Cr, Co, and Ni; and Z being selected from the group consisting of Al, Si, Ga, Ge, In, Sn, Zn, and Sb; wherein the ternary intermetallic compound is supported on a porous oxidic support material. The composition may be prepared by providing a liquid mixture of sources of X, Y, and Z, and the porous oxidic support material, removing the liquid and heating the resulting mixture in a reducing atmosphere. The composition is useful as catalyst.