KAIST

Propylene, a key building block used in producing plastics, textiles, automotive components, and electronics, is essential to the petrochemical industry. A KAIST research team has developed a novel catalyst that dramatically enhances the efficiency of propylene production while significantly reducing costs. 

< Photo. Professor Minkee Choi (left), and Ph.D. Candidate Susung Lee (right) of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering >

KAIST (represented by President Kwang-Hyung Lee) announced on the 12th of May that a research group led by Professor Minkee Choi from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering has successfully developed a new catalyst using inexpensive metals—gallium (Ga) and alumina (Al₂O₃)—with only a trace amount of platinum (100 ppm, or 0.01%). Remarkably, this new catalyst outperforms conventional industrial catalysts that use high concentrations of platinum (10,000 ppm).

Propylene is commonly produced through the propane dehydrogenation (PDH) process, which removes hydrogen from propane. Platinum has long been used as a catalyst in PDH due to its high efficiency in breaking carbon-hydrogen bonds and facilitating hydrogen removal. However, platinum is costly and suffers from performance degradation over repeated use.

To address this, the KAIST team engineered a catalyst that incorporates only a minimal amount of platinum, relying on gallium and alumina as the primary components.

< Figure 1. Schematic diagram showing the catalytic cooperation between gallium (Ga) and platinum (Pt) >

The core mechanism of the catalyst involves a cooperative function between the metals: gallium activates the C–H bond in propane to produce propylene, while platinum bonds the residual hydrogen atoms on the surface to form hydrogen gas (H₂), which is then released. This division of roles allows for high catalytic efficiency despite the drastic reduction in platinum content.

The researchers identified an optimal platinum-to-gallium ratio that delivered peak performance and provided a scientific rationale and quantitative metrics to predict this ideal composition.

Additionally, the team addressed a major limitation of traditional platinum catalysts: sintering—the agglomeration of platinum particles during repeated use, which causes performance loss. By adding a small amount of cerium (Ce), the researchers successfully suppressed this aggregation. As a result, the new catalyst maintained stable performance even after more than 20 reaction-regeneration cycles.

< Figure 2. Performance comparison of KAIST's newly developed catalyst (100 ppm platinum) and existing commercial platinum catalyst (10,000 ppm platinum) >

Professor Choi stated, “This research demonstrates the possibility of reducing platinum usage to 1/100th of current levels without compromising, and even enhancing, performance. It presents significant economic and environmental advantages, including lower catalyst costs, extended replacement intervals, and reduced catalyst waste.”

He added, “We are planning to evaluate this technology for large-scale process demonstration and commercialization. If adopted in industry, it could greatly improve the economic viability and efficiency of propylene production.”

The study was led by Professor Minkee Choi as corresponding author, with Ph.D. candidate Susung Lee as the first author. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), a leading journal in chemistry and chemical engineering, on February 13.
※ Paper title: Ideal Bifunctional Catalysis for Propane Dehydrogenation over Pt-Promoted Gallia-Alumina and Minimized Use of Precious Elements
※ DOI: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.4c13787

The research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea and Hanwha Solutions Corporation.