Photocatalytic nonoxidative coupling of methane to ethylene over carbon-doped ZnO/Au catalysts

March 07, 2024

A photocatalytic conversion of methane to multi-carbon compounds remains a huge challenge due to its high dissociation energy of C−H bonds and sluggish charge carrier dynamics. Au-modified carbon-doped ZnO (C-ZnO/Au) photocatalyst is constructed by an interfacial modification-assisted self-assembly approach for photocatalytic conversion of methane.

Benefitting from the presence of C-ZnO/Au interfaces, the catalyst not only reduces the excitonic binding energy to improve the photogenerated charge carrier separation but also enhances the stability of lattice oxygen to suppress C₂H₄ overoxidation.

Moreover, this hybrid catalyst also accelerates the generation of Zn⁺–O^– pairs to activate C−H bonds, stabilizes the reaction intermediate (*OCH₃) to achieve the C−C coupling, and promotes the generation of low valence Zn to accelerate the dehydrogenation of the *OC₂H₅ into C₂H₄.

From:Phys.org