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[[Vol. 76]Selective Hybrid Photocatalyst Allows Oxidative Coupling of Methane to Ethane with Dioxygen_ WPI-MANA.pdf](https://mdr.nims.go.jp/filesets/45f83917-4ac9-4b4d-983e-be79d9978280/download)

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International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA)

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[[Research Highlights Vol.76] Selective Hybrid Photocatalyst Allows Oxidative Coupling of Methane to Ethane with Dioxygen](https://mdr.nims.go.jp/datasets/a466a00c-254e-4ad2-b2e4-c82ab71a9ff9)

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2022/03/31 16:03 Selective Hybrid Photocatalyst Allows Oxidative Coupling of Methane to Ethane with Dioxygen| MANAhttps://www.nims.go.jp/mana/research/highlights/vol76.html 1/2Previous  Index  NextResearch Highlights[Vol. 76]Selective Hybrid Photocatalyst Allows Oxidative Coupling of Methane to Ethanewith Dioxygen16 Mar, 2022A team at WPI-MANA has demonstrated that methane can be efficiently and selectivelyoxidized to ethane with oxygen under light irradiation over an Au-ZnO/TiO₂ hybrid. Thisachievement opens the door to cheaper and more efficient production of valuablechemicals using methane as a feedstock.Methane (CH₄), the main component of natural gas and shale gas, is not only an abundant andlow-cost fuel, but also a powerful greenhouse gas with a potential 28-34 times that of CO₂.Directly and selectively converting methane to value-added higher hydrocarbons or oxygenates hasbeen attracting substantial interest from both academia and industry, and could reduce society’sreliance on crude oil and contribute to carbon neutrality.However, the high C-H bond dissociation energy and non-polar nature of methane, along with thehigher reactivity of the desired products, make selective activation and conversion of methanechallenging.The WPI-MANA group designed an Au-ZnO/TiO₂ hybrid photocatalyst for selectively oxidizing CH₄to ethane (C₂H₆) with oxygen (O₂). This showed a high C₂H₆ production rate with high selectivityand excellent durability, which were more than one order of magnitude higher than the state-of-the-art photocatalytic systems.https://www.nims.go.jp/mana/research/highlights/vol75.htmlhttps://www.nims.go.jp/mana/research/highlights/index.html2022/03/31 16:03 Selective Hybrid Photocatalyst Allows Oxidative Coupling of Methane to Ethane with Dioxygen| MANAhttps://www.nims.go.jp/mana/research/highlights/vol76.html 2/2Mechanistic studies showed that the formation of ZnO/TiO₂ heterojunctions by precisely controllingthe ratio and interface structure of ZnO/TiO₂ led to enhanced activity, while maintaining highselectivity owing to the weak overoxidation ability of the main component ZnO. Moreover, using Aunanoparticles as the cocatalyst not only promotes charge separation, but also facilitates methyl(CH₃) species desorption to form methyl radicals, which promotes the formation of C₂H₆ andinhibits the overoxidation of CH₄ to CO₂.These findings could guide the future design of photocatalysts that could transform methane toethane with high activity and selectivity. This, along with other technologies such as new reactordesigns, could provide an economically viable way to directly convert methane into ethane.This research was conducted by Jinhua Ye (MANA Principal Investigator, Group Leader,Photocatalytic Materials Group, WPI-MANA, NIMS) and her collaborators.Reference“A selective Au-ZnO/TiO₂ hybrid photocatalyst for oxidative coupling of methane to ethane withdioxygen”Shuang Song, Jinhua Ye et al.Journal: Nature Catalysis 4, 1032-1042 (29 November 2021)DOI : 10.1038/s41929-021-00708-9（MANA E-BULLETIN）https://www.nims.go.jp/mana/ebulletin/AffiliationsInternational Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), National Institute for MaterialsScience (NIMS), Namiki 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, JapanContact informationInternational Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics(WPI-MANA)National Institute for Materials Science1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 JapanPhone: +81-29-860-4710E-mail: mana-pr[AT]ml.nims.go.jphttps://samurai.nims.go.jp/profiles/jinhua_ye?locale=enhttps://samurai.nims.go.jp/profiles/jinhua_ye?locale=enhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-021-00708-9https://www.nims.go.jp/mana/ebulletin/