Ethylene (C2H4) was discovered nearly 230 years ago, then known as ‘olefiant gas’. Now, it is one of the most sought after chemical raw materials, widely used in industries such as food, hospitals and chemical biology. The demand for ethylene is expected to reach 200 million metric tonnes by 2025. Light alkanes, such as ethane (C2H6), are a desirable feedstock for ethylene production by stripping it of its hydrogen atoms — a process known as alkane dehydrogenation.

Ethane conversion to ethylene can be accomplished using thermochemical (for example, thermal steam cracking, oxidative and/or non-oxidative dehydrogenation) or photochemical (using solar energy) catalytic processes. For thermochemical processes, however, almost all industrial ethane dehydrogenation uses steam cracking. This process is costly, requires high operating pressures and temperatures (15–40 atm, 700–1,000 °C) in expensive reactors, and produces a mixture of products, of which ∼15% are not economically desirable. Crucially, these energy intensive thermochemical processes also contribute a large carbon footprint that exacerbates climate change. Therefore, environmentally benign processes for alkane conversion to ethylene are much needed to avoid thermal cracking.