ELECTROCHEMICAL METHANE ACTIVATION AND CONVERSION TO METHANOL AT ROOM TEMPERATURE

Abstract

METHANE IS THE SIMPLEST ALKANE AND THE MAJOR COMPONENT OF NATURAL GAS. HOWEVER, DUE TO ITS INERTNESS, METHANE ACTIVATION POSES A CHALLENGE TO MAKE THE FULL USE OF IT. THE PRESENT STUDY CONDUCTED VOLTAMMETRY AND STRIPPING EXPERIMENTS IN A THREE-ELECTRODE H-CELL BOTH IN NITROGEN AND METHANE SATURATED ELECTROLYTE, TO TEST THE CATALYSTS FOR ACTIVATING METHANE TO METHANOL AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT THE NON-NOBLE METALS, INCLUDING NIO-ZRO2, NIO-CEO, NIO-CUO, NIO-CUO-FEO/FE2O3 AND THE ELECTRODEPOSITED NI-FE OXIDE WERE NOT ABLE TO ACTIVATE METHANE. THE NOBLE METAL, RU, ALSO DID NOT INTERACT WITH METHANE. HOWEVER, IT?S NOTABLE THAT THE NOBLE METALS, PT AND IR, SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED THE CURRENTS IN METHANE THAN IN NITROGEN SATURATED ELECTROLYTE, THOUGH METHANOL WAS NOT DETECTED BY NMR. IN CONCLUSION, THE NOBLE METALS, PT AND IR, MIGHT BE ABLE TO ACT AS ELECTROCHEMICAL CATALYSTS TO ACTIVATE METHANE, BUT FURTHER RESEARCH IS NECESSARY TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE.