Suppressed formation of CO2 and H2O in the oxidative coupling of methane over La2O3/MgO catalyst by surface modification

Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is a promising way to convert methane into C_2 hydrocarbons. However, CO_2 and H_2O are by-products of the reaction. To utilize the higher activity of lanthanum oxide and save its usage, MgO supported La_2O_3 catalyst was prepared. Surface modification of the catalyst with nitric acid was made to suppress the formation of the by-products. Experimental results indicated that the addition of nitric acid increased the surface oxygen species with binding energy of ca. 531.7 eV and at the same time reduced the pore volume of the catalyst. These effects of nitric acid finally led to the increase of C_2 selectivity and the decrease of the by-products formation. Hydrogen selectivity was found about 14%- 18% over the catalysts adopted in this work.