Vanadium-based catalyst composition for CO2-mediated oxidative dehydrogenation of propane

A method of making an active catalyst composition containing a first vanadium catalyst and a second vanadium catalyst, comprising:

• mixing at least one support with a vanadium oxide precursor and grinding thereby at least partially embedding the vanadium oxide precursor particles in different layers and surfaces of the at least one support to form a first precursor;
• wherein a weight ratio of the at least one support to the vanadium oxide precursor is in a range of 100:1 to 10:1;
• mixing the first precursor and a first solvent to form a first mixture;
• grinding the first mixture and drying at a temperature of 60 to 105° C.;
• and
• calcining the first mixture after the drying at a temperature of at least 300° C. thereby allowing the vanadium oxide precursor particles embedded in different layers and surfaces of the at least one support to decompose in situ to generate vanadium oxide (VOx) particles embedded in the at least one support and form the first vanadium catalyst;
• wherein the vanadium oxide particles have an average particle size of 50 to 200 nanometers (nm), and are uniformly distributed throughout the first vanadium catalyst;
• wherein 0<x<3;
• wherein the at least one support comprises a smectite clay and a metal oxide;
• and
• mixing the first vanadium catalyst with the second vanadium catalyst to form the active catalyst composition.