Direct oxidation of methane at low temperature using Pt/C,Pd/C,Pt/C-ATO and Pd/C-ATO electrocatalysts prepared by sodium borohydride reduction process

The main objective of this paper was to characterize the voltammetric profiles of the Pt/C,Pt/C-ATO,Pd/C and Pd/CATO electrocatalysts and study their catalytic activities for methane oxidation in an acidic electrolyte at 25 ℃ and in a direct methane proton exchange membrane fuel cell at 80 ℃. The electrocatalysts prepared also were characterized by X-ray diffraction( XRD) and transmission electron microscopy( TEM). The diffractograms of the Pt/C and Pt/C-ATO electrocatalysts show four peaks associated with Pt face-centered cubic( fcc) structure,and the diffractograms of Pd/C and Pd/C-ATO show four peaks associated with Pd face-centered cubic( fcc) structure. For Pt/C-ATO and Pd/C-ATO,characteristic peaks of cassiterite( SnO_2) phase are observed,which are associated with Sb-doped SnO_2( ATO) used as supports for electrocatalysts. Cyclic voltammograms( CV) of all electrocatalysts after adsorption of methane show that there is a current increase during the anodic scan. However,this effect is more pronounced for Pt/C-ATO and Pd/C-ATO. This process is related to the oxidation of the adsorbed species through the bifunctional mechanism,where ATO provides oxygenated species for the oxidation of CO or HCO intermediates adsorbed in Pt or Pd sites. From in situ ATR-FTIR( Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared) experiments for all electrocatalysts prepared the formation of HCO or CO intermediates are observed,which indicates the production of carbon dioxide. Polarization curves at 80 ℃in a direct methane fuel cell( DMEFC) show that Pd/C and Pt/C electroacatalysts have superior performance to Pd/C-ATO and Pt/C-ATO in methane oxidation.     

Deep Oxidation of Methane on a Pt/Si3N4 Catalyst

We have studied platinum catalysts supported on silicon nitride Si₃N₄ in the process of deep oxidation of methane. We have used transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to study the surface properties of the Pt/Si₃N₄ samples before and after the catalytic reaction. We have established that the metallic platinum particles in freshly prepared systems are characterized by average sizes of 1.7-5.3 nm, while after the catalytic reaction we observe formation of Pt crystallites up to 30-70 nm in size. We hypothesize that the observed deactivation of platinum catalysts in deep oxidation of methane is connected with crystallization of the metallic particles and their entrainment with the reaction products during catalysis.     

Methane Chemisorption on Oxide-Supported Pt Single Atom

Methane chemisorption has been recently demonstrated on the rutile IrO₂(110) surface. However, it remains unclear how the general requirements are for methane chemisorption or complexation with a single atom on an oxide surface. By exploring methane adsorption on Pt₁ substitutionally doped on many rutile-type oxides using hybrid density functional theory, we show that the occupancy of the Pt d_z² orbital is the key to methane chemisorption. Pt single atom on the semiconducting or wide-gap oxides such as TiO₂ and GeO₂ strongly chemisorbs methane, because the empty Pt d_z² orbital is located in the gap and can effectively accept σ-electron donation from the methane C−H bond. In contrast, Pt single atom on metallic oxides such as IrO₂ and RuO₂ does not chemisorb methane, because the Pt d_z² orbital strongly mixes with the support-oxide electronic states and become more occupied, losing its ability to chemisorb methane. This study sheds further light on the impact of the interaction between a Pt single atom and the oxide support on methane adsorption.     

Methane Activation by Platinum: Critical Role of Edge and Corner Sites of Metal Nanoparticles

Complete dehydrogenation of methane is studied on model Pt catalysts by means of state‐of‐the‐art DFT methods and by a combination of supersonic molecular beams with high‐resolution photoelectron spectroscopy. The DFT results predict that intermediate species like CH₃ and CH₂ are specially stabilized at sites located at particles edges and corners by an amount of 50–80 kJ mol^?1. This stabilization is caused by an enhanced activity of low‐coordinated sites accompanied by their special flexibility to accommodate adsorbates. The kinetics of the complete dehydrogenation of methane is substantially modified according to the reaction energy profiles when switching from Pt(111) extended surfaces to Pt nanoparticles. The CH₃ and CH₂ formation steps are endothermic on Pt(111) but markedly exothermic on Pt₇₉. An important decrease of the reaction barriers is observed in the latter case with values of approximately 60 kJ mol^?1 for first C? H bond scission and 40 kJ mol^?1 for methyl decomposition. DFT predictions are experimentally confirmed by methane decomposition on Pt nanoparticles supported on an ordered CeO₂ film on Cu(111). It is shown that CH₃ generated on the Pt nanoparticles undergoes spontaneous dehydrogenation at 100 K. This is in sharp contrast to previous results on Pt single‐crystal surfaces in which CH₃ was stable up to much higher temperatures. This result underlines the critical role of particle edge sites in methane activation and dehydrogenation.     

Aromatization of methane over different Mo-supported catalysts in the absence of oxygen

Both acidity and structure of the support are important factors in converting methane to aromatics. Lower SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratio seems to favor the aromatization of methane over the Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst. When Pt is added as a modifier the activity of Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst will decrease slightly, but coke formation will enhanced.     

Platinum- and CuOx-Decorated TiO2 Photocatalyst for Oxidative Coupling of Methane to C2 Hydrocarbons in a Flow Reactor

Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is considered one of the most promising catalytic technologies to upgrade methane. However, C₂ products (C₂H₆/C₂H₄) from conventional methane conversion have not been produced commercially owing to competition from overoxidation and carbon accumulation at high temperatures. Herein, we report the codeposition of Pt nanoparticles and CuO_x clusters on TiO₂ (PC-50) and use of the resulting photocatalyst for OCM in a flow reactor operated at room temperature under atmospheric pressure for the first time. The optimized Cu_0.1Pt_0.5/PC-50 sample showed a highest yield of C₂ product of 6.8 μmol h⁻¹ at a space velocity of 2400 h⁻¹, more than twice the sum of the activity of Pt/PC-50 (1.07 μmol h⁻¹) and Cu/PC-50 (1.9 μmol h⁻¹), it might also be the highest among photocatalytic methane conversions reported so far under atmospheric pressure. A high C₂ selectivity of 60 % is also comparable to that attainable by conventional high-temperature (>943 K) thermal catalysis. It is proposed that Pt functions as an electron acceptor to facilitate charge separation, while holes could transfer to CuO_x to avoid deep dehydrogenation and the overoxidation of C₂ products.     

Synthesis, hydrothermal stability and thermal reaction behavior of nepheline hydrate i (NH I)

Summary The activity of Pt/Ce_1-xGd_xO_2-y samples in steam and dry reforming of methane at short contact times correlates with the lattice oxygen mobility. For the partial oxidation of methane (POM), the oxygen mobility should be optimized to prevent methane combustion.     

Semiconductor Sensors Based on SnO<Subscript>2</Subscript> with Pt Additives and their Catalytic Activity in Oxidation of Methane

We have studied the effect of small additives of Pt on the methane sensitivity of semiconductor adsorption sensors based on SnO₂ (doped with Sb₂O₅) and on the catalytic activity of sensor materials of the same composition in oxidation of methane. We have shown that as the amount of Pt increases, the catalytic activity increases and the sensitivity of the sensors passes through a maximum. The results obtained are explained taking into account the spillover phenomenon.__________Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Eksperimental’naya Khimiya, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 176–179, May–June, 2005.     

Thermal Methane Conversion to Formaldehyde Promoted by Single Platinum Atoms in PtAl2O4− Cluster Anions

Identification and mechanistic study of thermal methane conversion mediated by gas‐phase species is important for finding potentially useful routes for direct methane transformation under mild conditions. Negatively charged oxide species are usually inert with methane. This work reports an unexpected result that the bi‐metallic oxide cluster anions PtAl₂O₄^? can transform methane into a stable organic compound, formaldehyde, with high selectivity. The clusters are prepared by laser ablation and reacted with CH₄ in an ion trap reactor. The reaction is characterized by mass spectrometry and density functional theory calculations. It is found that platinum rather than oxygen activates CH₄ at the beginning of the reaction. The Al₂O₄^? moiety serves as the support of Pt atom and plays important roles in the late stage of the reaction. A new mechanism for selective methane conversion is provided and new insights into the surface chemistry of single Pt atoms may be obtained from this study.     

Kinetics of methane combustion on Fe2O3/TiO2 catalysts

The objective of this work was to study the kinetics of methane combustion for a series of Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ catalysts. An increase in activity is observed as iron loading increases, and can be attributed to an increase of surface coverage by Fe₂O₃ species. Kinetic studies revealed that the reaction orders with respect to methane, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water are 1, 0, 0 and -1 respectively. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Catalytic oxidation of methane over Pd/Co3O4

The catalytic activity of Pd/Co₃O₄ toward methane oxidation has been examined in this study as a function of Pd loading, reaction temperature, space velocity and methane concentration in the reaction gas mixture. The bare oxide is quite active achieving a 100% methane conversion at 480°C under the reaction conditions used. The catalyst with the highest Pd loading tested of 10 wt.% yields the best activity curve, but the 5 wt.% Pd/Co₃O₄ catalyst performs nearly as well. Complete conversion for this catalyst is attained at 300°C and the activity remains stable over a 90-min test period.     

The Direct Partial Oxidation of Methane to Dimethyl Ether over Pt/Y2O3 Catalysts Using an NO/O2 Shuttle

Using a mixture of NO + O₂ as the oxidant enabled the direct selective oxidation of methane to dimethyl ether (DME) over Pt/Y₂O₃. The reaction was carried out in a fixed bed reactor at 0.1 MPa over a temperature range of 275–375 °C. During the activity tests, the only carbon‐containing products were DME and CO₂. The DME productivity (μmol g_cat^?1 h^?1) was comparable to oxygenate productivities reported in the literature for strong oxidants (N₂O, H₂O₂, O₃). The NO + O₂ mixture formed NO₂, which acted as the oxygen atom carrier for the ultimate oxidant O₂. During the methane partial oxidation reaction, NO and NO₂ were not reduced to N₂. In situ FTIR showed the formation of surface nitrate species, which are considered to be key intermediate species for the selective oxidation.     

Influence of Pt and Pd on the catalytic activity of tungsten and molybdenum oxides in the deep oxidation of methane

It has been shown that the phases H_xMO₃ and MO_3−x (M = Mo, W), obtained by reduction of the oxides WO₃ and MoO₃ with hydrogen with supported Pt(Pd) (0.5 mass %), have higher catalytic activity in the deep oxidation of methane than the catalysts Pt/Al₂O₃ and Pd/Al₂O₃ with the same amount of supported metal. At temperatures above 700 K the activity of these catalysts decreases in consequence of the thermal decomposition of the phases H_xMO₃ and MO_3−x and they become similar in activity with Pt(Pd)/Al₂O₃. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i éksperimental’naya Khimiya, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 126–129, March–April, 2008.     

B,N-co-doped graphene-supported Ir and Pt clusters for methane activation and C─C coupling: A density functional theory study

Methane conversion by using transition metal catalysts plays in an important role in various usages of the industrial process. The mechanism of methane conversion on B, N-co-doped graphene supported Ir and Pt clusters, BNG-Ir4 and BNG-Pt4, have been investigated using density functional theory calculations. Methane was found to adsorb on BNG-Ir4 and BNG-Pt4 clusters via strong agostic interactions. The first step of methane dehydrogenation on BNG-Ir4 has a lower energy barrier, indicating a facile methane dissociation on BNG-Ir4. In addition, it shows that hydrogen molecule can form on the BNG-Ir4 and hydrogen can desorb from the surface. Besides, the C-C coupling reaction of CH₃ to form ethane is a more thermodynamically favorable process than CH₃ dehydrogenation on BNG-Ir4. Further, ethane is easier to desorb from the surface due to its low desorption energy. Therefore, the BNG-Ir4 cluster is a potential catalyst for activating methane to form ethane and to produce hydrogen. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effect of CH4/Air Ratio on Selectivity of Partial Oxidation of Methane on V2O5/SiO2 Catalyst

We have studied partial oxidation of methane on V₂O₅/SiO₂ (0.8 mass % V) in a flow-through catalytic fixed-bed reactor. We found that the methane/air ratio in the starting reaction mixture has practically no effect on the selectivity of the process. The dependence of the selectivity on the methane conversion can be described by a model with such reaction parameters as the initial selectivity and the relative reactivity (with respect to methane) of the reaction products.     

A Study of Carbon Deposition on Catalysts During the Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Methane to Syngas in a Fluidized bed

The deposition of carbon on catalysts during the partial oxidation of methane to syngas has been investigated in a fluidized bed. It was found that the relative rate of carbon deposition follows the order Ni>>Pd>Pt, Rh. Although the rate of carbon deposition in the fluidized bed was much lower than that in the fixed bed, carbon deposition could still be detected in the fluidized bed if a CH₄ /O₂ ratio in greater than 2.3 was used.     

Nonoxidative conversion of methane and <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-pentane over a platinum/alumina catalyst

Methane adsorption on the Pt–H/Al₂O₃ and Pt/Al₂O₃ catalysts begins at Т = 475°C and is accompanied by the appearance of hydrogen in the reaction medium. At a higher temperature is raised to 550°C, the amount of adsorbed hydrogen increases to 1.1 and 0.8 mol/(mol Pt), respectively. According to the calculated degree of methane dehydrogenation on platinum sites at Т = 550°C, the Н/C ratio is 1.3 (at/at) for the Pt–H/Al₂O₃ catalyst and 1.5 (at/at) for the Pt/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The introduction of n-pentane into the reaction medium increases the yield of aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene and toluene) by a factor of 8.8 over the arene yield observed in individual n-pentane conversion. A mass spectrometric analysis of the arenes obtained with the Pt/Al₂O₃ catalyst has demonstrated that 37.5% of the adsorbed methane is involved in the methane–n-pentane coaromatization yielding benzene and toluene.     

Bond energies and thermal decomposition of [Pt(X)(CH3)(P(C2H5)3)2] complexes

The thermal decomposition of the complexes trans-[Pt(X)(CH₃)L₂] (L  P(C₂H₅)₃; X  Cl, Br, I, CN) in decalin at 170 and 200°C affords methane platinum metal and [Pt(X)₂L₂]. The kinetics of the decomposition of the complexes were determined by monitoring the appearance of methane by GLC. The observed first-order rate constant was found to be independent on the nature of the ligand X. The thermal decomposition of the trideuteriomethyl complexes [Pt(X)(CD₃)L₂] (X  I, CN) in decalin-d₁₈ at 170 and 200°C was studied by GLC/MS. The thermolysis affords CD₃H and CD₄ in ratios which are independent of the nature of X and of the temperature used. The mass spectra of the complexes were also examined. A relative scale of platinum-to-methyl bond dissociation energies has been established by measuring the appearance potential of the fragment ion [Pt(X)L₂]⁺ and the ionization energies in the series [Pt(X)(CH₃)L₂]. Ionization potentials and PtCH₃ bond energies show a clear dependence on the nature of X which is not reflected in corresponding changes in the decomposition rates.     

Oxidative coupling of methane for the production of ethylene over Li-Ni/MgO catalys

Oxidative coupling of methane for the production of ethylene was studied over Li-Ni/MgO catalyst in a fixed bed reactor. The influences of important reaction parameters such as temperature (T), methane/oxygen ratio (CH₄/O₂) in feed and space velocity of reactants (V/m_cat) were studied over the conversion of methane, yields of ethylene and ethane and selectivity of ethylene formation. The reaction conditions were varied as 650 < T < 850^oC, 0.83 x 10^-6 < V/m_cat < 2.92 x 10^-6 m³/g s and 1 < CH₄/O₂ ratio < 8.     

Effect of methane co-feeding on the selectivity of ethylene produced from oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane with CO2 over a Ni-La/SiO2 catalyst

A Ni-La/SiO₂ catalyst was prepared through the incipient wetness impregnation method and tested in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (ODHE) with CO₂. The fresh and used catalysts were characterized by XRD and SEM techniques. The Ni-La/SiO₂ catalyst exhibited catalytic activity for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane, but with low ethylene selectivity in the absence of methane. The selectivity to ethylene increased with increasing molar ratio of methane in the feed. The carbon deposited on the catalyst surface in the sole ODHE with CO₂ was mainly inert carbon, while much more filamentous carbon was formed in the presence of methane. The filamentous carbon was easy to be removed by CO₂, which might play a role in improving the conversion of ethane to ethylene. The introduction of methane might affect the equilibrium of the CO₂ reforming of ethane and the ODHE with CO₂. As a consequence, the synthesis gas produced from CO₂ reforming of methane partly inhibited the reaction of ethane and promoted the ODHE with CO₂, thus increasing the selectivity of ethylene.