DIAMOND AND RELATED MATERIALS, cilt.110, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)
Microwave-assisted hydrogen production via non-oxidative ethane dehydrogenation was investigated over five different carbon samples: graphite (Graphite), graphite extra pure (Graphite-ex), reduced graphene oxide (RGO), carbon nanofiber (Cnano) and mesoporous carbon (mesoC). Hard-templating method was used to prepare CMK-8 type mesoC sample. Thermal reduction was applied to the graphene oxide sample prepared by Modified Hummers' method to obtain RGO sample. The mesoC sample was found to have the highest surface area (1098 m(2)/g) and pore volume (0.907 cm(3)/g) among the samples studied. The catalytic activities of the carbon samples were investigated in a microwave-heated continuous-flow reactor system at 450 degrees C using a feed ratio of Ethane/Argon: 1/2 with a gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 18,000 mL/h.gcat. The mesoC sample exhibited higher ethane conversion (45.9%) and H-2 selectivity (0.95) and the activity results confirmed that the pore properties were more effective on ethane dehydrogenation. The high catalytic activity was attributed to the microwave-assisted heating system.