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.

Composite catalysts having bismuth silicate(s) (e.g. Bi.sub.2SiO.sub.5) and transition metal oxide(s) (e.g. nickel oxide) impregnated on mesoporous silica supports such as SBA-15, mesoporous silica foam, and silica sol. Methods of making and characterizing the composite catalysts as well as processes for oxidatively dehydrogenating alkanes (e.g. n-butane) and/or alkenes (e.g. 1-butene, 2-butene) to corresponding dienes (e.g. butadiene) employing the composite catalysts are also described.

Methods comprising: evaporating a catalyst source to produce a catalyst gas; condensing the catalyst gas to produce a catalyst vapor comprising catalyst droplets suspended in a gas phase; and contacting the catalyst vapor with a hydrocarbon gas to catalyze a decomposition reaction of the hydrocarbon gas into hydrogen gas and carbon. And, systems comprising: a catalyst source evaporator that provides a first stream to a reactor; a hydrocarbon source that provides a second stream to the reactor; a cooling column coupled to the reactor via a third stream comprising hydrogen, catalyst liquid, solid carbon, optionally catalyst gas, and optionally unreacted hydrocarbon gas such that the cooling column receives the third stream from the reactor; and wherein the cooling column has effluent streams that include (a) a fourth stream that comprises hydrogen and optionally catalyst gas and (b) a fifth stream that comprises catalyst liquid.

Methods comprising: evaporating a catalyst source to produce a catalyst gas; condensing the catalyst gas to produce a catalyst vapor comprising catalyst droplets suspended in a gas phase; and contacting the catalyst vapor with a hydrocarbon gas to catalyze a decomposition reaction of the hydrocarbon gas into hydrogen gas and carbon. And, systems comprising: a catalyst source evaporator that provides a first stream to a reactor; a hydrocarbon source that provides a second stream to the reactor; a cooling column coupled to the reactor via a third stream comprising hydrogen, catalyst liquid, solid carbon, optionally catalyst gas, and optionally unreacted hydrocarbon gas such that the cooling column receives the third stream from the reactor; and wherein the cooling column has effluent streams that include (a) a fourth stream that comprises hydrogen and optionally catalyst gas and (b) a fifth stream that comprises catalyst liquid.

Composite catalysts having bismuth silicate(s) (e.g. Bi.sub.2SiO.sub.5) and transition metal oxide(s) (e.g. nickel oxide) impregnated on mesoporous silica supports such as SBA-15, mesoporous silica foam, and silica sol. Methods of making and characterizing the composite catalysts as well as processes for oxidatively dehydrogenating alkanes (e.g. n-butane) and/or alkenes (e.g. 1-butene, 2-butene) to corresponding dienes (e.g. butadiene) employing the composite catalysts are also described.

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) system includes a bismuth strontium cobalt oxide.

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.