Abstract: Using chromium nitrate, chromium (VI) oxide, calcium dichromate trihydrate or potassium dichromate as precursors, chromium catalysts for propane dehydrogenation are prepared. The nominal chromium loading in the catalyst is 11 wt%. The propane dehydrogenation activity of the catalyst is investigated under the conditions of weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 0.7 h^-1 and reaction temperature of 600 ℃. XRD, SEM, NH₃-TPD, H₂-TPR and UV-vis are used to characterize the crystal structure, surface topography, surface acidity, surface reducibility, and chromium valence of different precursors catalysts. The propane dehydrogenation activity of the catalyst is measured with a fixed-bed miniature reaction device. The high-frequency infrared carbon-sulfur analyzer, thermal cracking GC-MS, and in-situ DRIFTS are used to analyze the amount of coke deposited, the type of coke deposited, and the reaction intermediates. The results show that the catalyst Cr (III)-RC with chromium nitrate or Cr (VI)-RC with chromium (VI) oxide as precursor have mainly weak acid sites on the surface, and its high-valent chromium (Cr⁶⁺) is easily reduced, the propane conversion and propylene selectivity are higher. The catalyst Cr(VI)-Ca-RC with calcium dichromate trihydrate or Cr(VI)-K-RC with potassium dichromate as precursor have mainly medium-strength acid sites on the surface, and its high-valent chromium (Cr⁶⁺) is not easily reduced, the side reactions are strong, and the propane conversion and propylene selectivity are lower. Adjusting the surface acidity of the catalyst reasonably and promoting the reduction of high-valent chromium (Cr⁶⁺) will be beneficial to the preparation of high-performance chromium-based propane dehydrogenation catalysts.