Session: General Catalysis:

Methane is the main component of natural gas. Transforming the abundant and inexpensive methane to oxygenates such as methanol has been a goal pursued by industries and academia for many decades. Currently, converting methane to methanol is through a two-step process by steam reforming methane to syngas (CO + H₂), followed by syngas conversion to methanol or other oxygenates. This route is costly due to the high-energy consumption and the high capital cost. It has long been recognized that direct conversion of methane to methanol by circumventing the expensive syngas step could offer economic advantages over the two-step process. However, the current technology developed for the direct conversion process has not yet reached a stage that can compete with the conventional two-step process. Partial oxidation of methane to methanol in a one-step process (also known as direct methane to methanol method: DMTM) possesses great potential and has attracted tremendous research efforts. In this work, we have discovered a new catalyst composed of bismuth polyoxometalates (POM) supported on silicon carbide that achieved methanol selectivity of 82% at methane conversion of 2.5% at 150 °C and atmospheric pressure. Other transition metal M such as Fe, Cu, Fe was added to the catalyst composition (Bi-POM-SiC) to investigate the catalytic effect on methane oxidation to methanol. In an attempt to establish a fundamental understanding of the catalyst characteristics responsible for the catalytic performance of the M-Bi-POM/SiC catalyst, the structural, compositional and electronic properties of the catalysts were characterized using a combination of XRD, XPS, IR, UV-vis, TEM, and XAFS techniques.

Daniel Weber

Appearances