Preparation and characterization of rare earth orthovanadates for propane oxidative dehydrogenation

High purity rare earth orthovanadates (R(E)VO(4)), YVO4, LaVO4, CeVO4, NdVO4, SmVO4 and EuVO4, were prepared by the citrate method. XRD, FT-IR, LRS and TPR techniques were employed to characterize these orthovanadates. The catalytic performance of SmVO4, LaVO4 and YVO4 in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane can compete with that of Mg3V2O8. The selectivity of propene over CeVO4, NdVO4 and EuVO4 was relatively lower. The correlation between the reducibility and the selectivity of the catalysts implied that the V4+/V3+ couple might be involved in the dehydrogenation process.