Tandem Catalysis for Selective Oxidation of Methane to Oxygenates Using Oxygen over PdCu/Zeolite.

Selective oxidation of methane to oxygenates with O2 under mild conditions remains a great challenge. Here we report a ZSM‐5 (Z‐5) supported PdCu bimetallic catalyst (PdCu/Z‐5) for methane conversion to oxygenates by reacting with O2 in the presence of H2 at low temperature (120 °C). Benefiting from the co‐existence of PdO nanoparticles and Cu single atoms via tandem catalysis, the PdCu/Z‐5 catalyst exhibited a high oxygenates yield of 1178 mmol g−1Pd h−1 (mmol of oxygenates per gram Pd per hour) and at the same time high oxygenates selectivity of up to 95 %. Control experiments and mechanistic studies revealed that PdO nanoparticles promoted the in situ generation of H2O2 from O2 and H2, while Cu single atoms not only accelerated the activation of H2O2 for the generation of abundant hydroxyl radicals (⋅OH) from H2O2 decomposition, but also enabled the homolytic cleavage of CH4 by ⋅OH to methyl radicals (⋅CH3). Subsequently, the ⋅OH reacted quickly with the ⋅CH3 to form CH3OH with high selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]