Aqueous-phase partial oxidation of methane with H2O2 over Fe-ZSM-5 catalysts prepared from different iron precursors.

Fe-ZSM-5 is an active catalyst for the selective oxidation of methane with H 2 O 2 in liquid water. To prepare the active Fe-ZSM-5 catalyst, the effect of the Fe precursor on the catalytic performance was examined. Additionally, two preparation methods, wet impregnation (WI) and ion-exchange (IE), were also applied. The prepared catalysts were characterized using various techniques, such as nitrogen physisorption, X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy after NO adsorption (NO-FTIR). Fe-ZSM-5 prepared from FeCl 2 appears to be the most active among the Fe-ZSM-5 catalysts prepared from FeCl 2 , FeSO 4 , Fe(CH 3 CO 2) 2 , FeCl 3 , Fe 2 (SO 4) 3 , Fe(C 5 H 7 O 2) 3 , and Fe(NO 3) 3 using the WI method. For Fe-ZSM-5 catalysts prepared using the IE method, divalent Fe precursors, such as FeSO 4 , FeCl 2 , and Fe(CH 3 CO 2) 2 , are better than trivalent Fe precursors, such as Fe 2 (SO 4) 3 , FeCl 3 , and Fe(NO 3) 3 , in terms of catalytic activity. The active catalyst has the dominant extra-framework Fe2+ species probed with UV–Vis spectroscopy and NO-FTIR. [Display omitted] • Partial oxidation of CH 4 with H 2 O 2 in water was examined over Fe-ZSM-5. • The effect of Fe precursor during the catalyst preparation was investigated. • The active sites were probed with FT-IR spectroscopy after NO adsorption. • Correlation was made between the activity and the peak intensity in NO-FTIR spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]