The formation and the stability of Fe-K double oxides have been examined to study the active component in the dehydrogenation catalysts consisting of Fe
2O
3 and K
2CO
3 using for styrene synthesis. Although formation of KFeO
2 and K
2O. nFe
2O
3 was observed by solid state reaction of Fe
2O
3 and K
2CO
3at 900°C, only KFeO
2 was found inthe reaction at 750°C. Addition of K
2CO
3 to Fe
2O
3 improvedthe catalytic activity and selectivity significantly, independent of the amount of K
2CO
3. The surface composition of Fe-K oxides calcined at 750°C was measured by XPS, and the surface seemed to be covered by KFeO
2.
The stability of KFeO
2 was examined in different atmosphere, and it decomposed in CO
2 at the ternperature of dehydrogenation reaction. However it remained stable after the reaction, although CO
2 was present in the reactor. We tried to measure the equilibrium pressure of CO
2 (Pco
2) which was evolved by the solid state reaction of Fe
2O
3 and K
2CO
3 to form KFeO
2. We found that in typical reaction conditions Pco
2 was less than equilibrium, and so KFeO
2 was stable in it. By addition of CO
2 in the reactor, the catalytic activity and selectivity rapidly dropped when Pco
2 was higher than equilibrium pressure, but stayed constant when Pco
2 was less than equilibrium pressure. Thus we finally concluded that KFeO
2 is the active component in the dehydrogenation catalysts consisting of Fe
2O
3 and K
2CO
3.
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