A study of the functionalities of the phases in Mo-V-Nb-Te oxides for propane ammoxidation

Catalysts belonging to the Mo-V-Nb-Te-O system have been prepared with both a slurry method and hydrothermal synthesis and were tested for propane and propylene ammoxidation to acrylonitrile. All samples were characterized with BET, XRD, ICP and XPS. The catalysts were found to consist of three phases, to which activity and selectivity correlations were made. The results indicate that both an orthorhombic phase and a hexagonal phase are needed to have an active and selective catalyst. The orthorhombic phase is the most active for propane conversion although less selective than the hexagonal phase for the conversion of formed propylene to acrylonitrile.