Thermo-photo catalytic partial oxidation of methane on hematite nanosheets functionalized with silver nanoparticles
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Converting reactions driven by thermocatalysis to thermo-photo catalysis can offer several advantages, such as allowing the reaction to proceed under less harsh conditions to improve stability and tune reaction selectivity. Here, we report on using a dilute loading of silver nanoparticles on high surface area hematite nanosheets, an earth-abundant material, to transform our demonstrated thermocatalytic conversion of methane to a thermo-photo conversion of methane with lowered onset temperatures and a shift in reaction mechanism. With a dilute loading of spherical silver nanoparticles, reaction onset temperatures were lowered to 150 °C from 300 °C. Additionally, reaction products were shifted to CO, decreasing the selectivity toward CO 2 and suggesting novel mechanistic pathways. The catalysts demonstrate great stability, with only a corresponding 4.9% and 11.3% decrease in activity over the bare and decorated catalyst over 15 hours. The fundamental relationships between reaction conversion and temperature, light intensity, and light wavelength studied in this work are important for providing a guideline for tuning other reactions with thermo-photo catalysis to improve catalyst conversion, selectivity, and stability.
Source: ChemRxiv
Language: English
Subfield: Catalysis
Field: Chemical Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7221596458