Biological and nonthermal plasma methane activation to methanol: Mechanisms, challenges, and prospects for hybrid systems
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Methane is both a valuable chemical feedstock and a potent greenhouse gas, and its selective valorization under mild conditions remains a key challenge for sustainable fuel and chemical production. Biological methane oxidation mediated by methane monooxygenases (MMOs) enables highly selective methane to methanol conversion at ambient conditions, but is constrained by gas–liquid mass transfer, reductant requirements, methanol overoxidation, and limited scalability. In contrast, NTP offers an electrified route for methane activation at low bulk temperatures, yet suffers from poor selectivity, high specific energy input, and reactor-scale efficiency limitations. This review critically compares the mechanistic foundations, performance characteristics, and system-level bottlenecks of biological and NTP-based methane activation routes. It examines how recent advances in plasma catalysis, reactor engineering, and enzyme-based methane oxidation influence selectivity, energy efficiency, and operational stability through catalyst design, discharge mode, and process configuration. On this basis, hybrid plasma-biological methane conversion is discussed as a process-level integration strategy, in which plasma and biocatalytic modules are functionally decoupled and strategically combined, rather than relying on direct radical-enzyme interactions. By integrating perspectives from microbiology, plasma science, catalysis, and process engineering, this work identifies critical bottlenecks and defines realistic research directions for developing hybrid methane to methanol systems with improved selectivity, energy efficiency, and scalability.
Source: Fuel
Authors: Qing An, Shushil Kumar Rai, Andriy Sheremet, Peter F. Dunfield, Hua Song
Institution: University of Calgary
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,330
Funder: University of Calgary
OpenAlex ID: W7135010541