Confined Cu-OH single sites in SSZ-13 zeolite for the direct oxidation of methane to methanol

Hailong Zhang; Peijie Han; Danfeng Wu; Congcong Du; Jiafei Zhao; Kelvin H. L. Zhang; Jingdong Lin; Shaolong Wan; Jianyu Huang; Shuai Wang; Haifeng Xiong; Yong Wang

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-43508-4

Nature Communications (Nov 2023)

Confined Cu-OH single sites in SSZ-13 zeolite for the direct oxidation of methane to methanol

Hailong Zhang,
Peijie Han,
Danfeng Wu,
Congcong Du,
Jiafei Zhao,
Kelvin H. L. Zhang,
Jingdong Lin,
Shaolong Wan,
Jianyu Huang,
Shuai Wang,
Haifeng Xiong,
Yong Wang

Affiliations

Hailong Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University
Peijie Han: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University
Danfeng Wu: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University
Congcong Du: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University
Jiafei Zhao: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University
Kelvin H. L. Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University
Jingdong Lin: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University
Shaolong Wan: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University
Jianyu Huang: Clean Nano Energy Center, State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University
Shuai Wang: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University
Haifeng Xiong: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University
Yong Wang: Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, Washington State University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43508-4
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract The direct oxidation of methane to methanol (MTM) remains a significant challenge in heterogeneous catalysis due to the high dissociation energy of the C-H bond in methane and the high desorption energy of methanol. In this work, we demonstrate a breakthrough in selective MTM by achieving a high methanol space-time yield of 2678 mmol molCu−1 h−1 with 93% selectivity in a continuous methane-steam reaction at 400 °C. The superior performance is attributed to the confinement effect of 6-membered ring (6MR) voids in SSZ-13 zeolite, which host isolated Cu-OH single sites. Our results provide a deeper understanding of the role of Cu-zeolites in continuous methane-steam to methanol conversion and pave the way for further improvement.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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