Xu, Youxun;
Wang, Chao;
Li, Xiyi;
Xiong, Lunqiao;
Zhang, Tianyu;
Zhang, Liquan;
Zhang, Qinghua;
... Tang, Junwang; + view all
(2024)
Efficient methane oxidation to formaldehyde via photon–phonon cascade catalysis.
Nature Sustainability
10.1038/s41893-024-01401-y.
(In press).
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Abstract
The oxidation of methane to value-added chemicals provides an opportunity to use this abundant feedstock for sustainable petrochemistry. Unfortunately, such technologies remain insufficiently competitive due to a poor selectivity and a low yield rate for target products. Here we show a photon–phonon-driven cascade reaction that allows for methane conversion to formaldehyde with an unprecedented productivity of 401.5 μmol h−1 (or 40,150 μmol g−1 h−1) and a high selectivity of 90.4% at 150 °C. Specifically, with a ZnO catalyst decorated with single Ru atoms, methane first reacts with water to selectively produce methyl hydroperoxide via photocatalysis, followed by a thermodecomposition step yielding formaldehyde. Single Ru atoms, serving as electron acceptors, improve charge separation and promote oxygen reduction in photocatalysis. This reaction route with minimized energy consumption and high efficiency suggests a promising pathway for the sustainable transformation of light alkanes.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Efficient methane oxidation to formaldehyde via photon–phonon cascade catalysis |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41893-024-01401-y |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01401-y |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author(s), 2024. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Energy and society, Photocatalysis |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10196576 |
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