The Effect of the Active‐Site Structure on the Activity of Copper Mordenite in the Aerobic and Anaerobic Conversion of Methane into Methanol |
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| Authors: | Dr Vitaly L Sushkevich Dr Dennis Palagin Prof Dr Jeroen A van Bokhoven |
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| Institution: | 1. Laboratory for Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen PSI, Switzerland;2. Institute for Chemistry and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | Samples of the zeolite mordenite with different Si/Al ratios were used to synthesize materials with monomeric and oligomeric copper sites that are active in the direct conversion of methane into methanol. A comparison of two reactivation protocols with oxygen (aerobic oxidation) and water (anaerobic oxidation), respectively, revealed that such copper–oxo species possess different reactivity towards methane and water. We show for the first time that oligomeric copper species exhibit high activity under both aerobic and anaerobic activation conditions, whereas monomeric copper sites produce methanol only in aerobic processes. |
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| Keywords: | copper zeolites heterogeneous catalysis methane methanol mordenite |
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