Converting Methane to Methanol — the holy grail of catalysis
And saving the environment
Converting methane to methanol is considered the holy grail of catalysis.
We now produce tons of methane thanks to hydraulic fracking which brings gas prices down but is terrible for the environment. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
The best method to contain methane is to convert it to methanol — through aerobic oxidation. CH4 to CH3OH.
However, this is a very difficult and expensive chemical reaction.
For one, methane is a very stable molecule with a very high carbon-hydrogen binding energy.
Methanol is, on the other hand, a weak molecule that is easily oxidized into carbon dioxide.
The combination makes driving the reaction from methane to methanol — from very stable to unstable — difficult.
Now a new catalytic system — single gold atoms perched on black phosphorous nanosheets — claims to do this conversion under mild conditions with greater than 99 % selectivity.
Water and O2 are activated on Au/BP nanosheets to form hydroxyl groups and OH radicals under light irradiation.
These ions react with methane, creating a CH3- (negative) species which combines with the hydroxyl group to turn into methanol.
link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21482-z
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