Issue 3/2020 - "Molecular fencing" helps convert methane to methanol efficiently

Professor Xiao Fengcheng and Wang Liang's research team of Zhejiang University have constructed a series of "molecular fence" heterogeneous catalyst systems, which can efficiently convert methane into methanol, providing a more direct and green way
for the efficient utilization of methane.
The research results were recently published in the journal
Science.

The catalyst for the conversion of methane into methanol is mainly hydrogen peroxide, but once hydrogen peroxide is generated, it will be quickly diluted and cannot fully react with methane, and the overactivity of methanol also makes its selective activation and directional conversion a problem
.
The research team designed a "fence" to enclose hydrogen peroxide, so that the concentration of hydrogen peroxide reached 10,000 times under normal conditions, which promoted the acceleration of the catalytic reaction
.
The conversion rate of methane before is difficult to break through 3%, but the "molecular fence" technology can greatly increase the conversion rate to 17.
3%
in mild conditions of 70 ° C.
In addition, this catalyst does not produce pollution in the preparation, avoiding the disadvantages of generating a large amount of wastewater by traditional conversion methods
.

Xiao Fengfeng said, "The structure inside a 'molecular fence' is like an egg
.
The yolk is a high concentration of hydrogen peroxide, the egg white is a zeolite crystal, and the eggshell is a layer of hydrophobic material, so that hydrogen, oxygen and methane can enter the reaction zone, and methanol can run out quickly after formation and will not compete
with methane.
”