Thermal non-oxidative aromatization of light alkanes catalyzed by gallium nitride.

The thermal catalytic activity of GaN in non-oxidative alkane dehydroaromatization has been discovered for the first time. The origin of the catalytic activity was studied experimentally and theoretically. Commercially available GaN powders with a wurtzite crystal structure showed superior stability and reactivity for converting light alkanes, including methane, propane, n-butane, n-hexane and cyclohexane into benzene at an elevated temperature with high selectivity. The catalyst is highly robust and can be used repeatedly without noticeable deactivation.