eprints@whiterose.ac.uk https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Reuse Unless indicated otherwise, fulltext items are protected by copyright with all rights reserved. The copyright exception in section 29 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows the making of a single copy solely for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study within the limits of fair dealing. The publisher or other rights-holder may allow further reproduction and re-use of this version -refer to the White Rose Research Online record for this item. Where records identify the publisher as the copyright holder, users can verify any specific terms of use on the publisher's website. Takedown AbstractThe dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene is a highly important industrial reaction and the focus of significant research in order to optimise the selectivity to styrene and minimise catalyst deactivation. The reaction itself is a complex network of parallel and consecutive processes including cracking, steam-reforming and reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) in addition to dehydrogenation. The goal of this investigation is to decouple the major processes occurring and analyse how side-reactions affect both the equilibrium of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation and the surface chemistry of steam reforming activity over the reduced catalyst; and reverse water-gas shift reaction. Each of these processes plays a critical role in the observed catalytic activity.Notably, the presence of CO 2 evolved from the reduction of chromium by ethylbenzene and from the gasification of the deposited oxygen-functionalised coke results in the dehydrogenation reaction becoming partially oxidative, i.e. selectivity to styrene is enhanced by coupling of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation with the reverse water-gas shift reaction. Ethylbenzene cracking, coke gasification, steam-reforming and reverse water-gas-shift determine the relative quantities of CO 2 , CO, H 2 and H 2 O and hence affect the coupling of the reactions. Coke deposition during the cracking period lowers the catalyst acidity and may contribute to chromium reduction, hence diminishing the competition between acid and metal sites and favouring dehydrogenation activity.

eprints@whiterose.ac.uk https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Reuse Unless indicated otherwise, fulltext items are protected by copyright with all rights reserved. The copyright exception in section 29 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows the making of a single copy solely for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study within the limits of fair dealing. The publisher or other rights-holder may allow further reproduction and re-use of this version -refer to the White Rose Research Online record for this item. Where records identify the publisher as the copyright holder, users can verify any specific terms of use on the publisher's website. TakedownIf you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing eprints@whiterose.ac.uk including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. catalysts proceeds sequentially via cracking and then dehydrogenation reactions. The present work reports how tailored coke deposition on the catalyst surface can suppress undesired reactions such as cracking to benzene and coke during ethylbenzene dehydrogenation. Additionally, this approach also provides insights into the precursor molecules involved in the formation of carbonaceous deposits, hence providing further understanding of coke formation. Pre-coked catalysts were prepared by adsorbing the products of the ethylbenzene reaction (i.e, benzene, toluene, styrene, ethylene) as single components, in a flowing system at 600 °C over the fresh catalyst. The resulting precoked catalysts were then evaluated in the ethylbenzene dehydrogenation reaction and their performance compared with that of the catalyst without exposure to pre-treatment.Characterisation of pre-coked catalysts by elemental analysis, temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO), temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), Raman spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) indicated that ethylene is the main coke precursor during ethylbenzene dehydrogenation and that ethylene-derived coke is associated with a reduction in selectivity to styrene as compared to the fresh catalyst. Coke deposited after pre-coking with aromatic molecules, and in particular with benzene, was beneficial for dehydrogenation activity, as shown by the increase in styrene selectivity relative to the fresh catalyst. This enhancement of dehydrogenation activity was correlated with deactivation of acid sites and the reduction of chromium from Cr(VI) to Cr(III) (active species for dehydrogenation) as a result of the pre-coking procedure.