Cost-effective copper, cobalt, and nickel catalysts for methane conversion: from greenhouse gas to green chemicals.

Methane is a notorious and potent greenhouse gas with a greenhouse effect potential 25 times higher than carbon dioxide. Current technologies for methane are limited by high energy demands, CO emissions and by-product pollution, and costly catalysts. Hence, it is urgent to seek clean processing technologies that can utilize its dual properties as an energy source and raw chemical feedstock to unlock its full potential and contribute to environmental remediation.

Binary Rhodium Atom Catalyst for Selective Catalytic Conversion of Methane to Methanol.

Using monometallic catalysts to selectively catalyze methane to methanol while suppressing the formation of liquid-phase overoxide products is beneficial for industrial applications. However, the balance between yield and selectivity over monometallic active sites remains challenging. This work proposes a strategy anchoring binary rhodium species to influence their surface dispersion properties.

Orchestrating Multi-Ångstrom Spaced Cu─Ni Dual-Atom Pair for Synergistic C─H Activation in Direct Methane Oxidation to Methanol.

Direct and efficient methane oxidation to methanol is an appealing route for upgrading abundant methane resources while acquiring building blocks of clean fuels and chemicals. However, owing to its highly symmetrical nature imparted chemical stability and steric hindrance, the design of multi-ångstrom (<3.0 Å) spaced active species capable of activating its first C-H bond remains a fundamental challenge.

In-situ lignin assembly on aramid nanofibers: fibrous hybrids for stable and efficient Pb removal.

Constructing lignin-based nano-adsorbents with modulated surface polarity demonstrates promising efficiency, sustainability and biocompatibility in the application of Pb removal, nevertheless, which is hard to achieve. Here, a delicately designed assembly process of amphiphilic lignin was performed on the surfaces of aramid nanofibers (ANF), and a fibrous nano-hybrid (ANF@L) with uniform sheet-like lignin aggregations on ANF was obtained. Ascribing to the dominated π-π stacking between benzene rings on ANF and lignin, the H-bond between them weakened relatively, and more oxygen containing polar groups on lignin were exposed.

Highly efficient oxidation of methane into methanol over Ni-promoted Cu/ZSM-5.

Direct functionalization of methane in natural gas is of paramount importance but faces tremendous challenges. We reported a nickel-modified copper zeolite catalyst for the selective oxidation of methane into methanol. Using HO as an oxidant in the liquid phase at 80 °C, CuNi/ZSM-5 catalyst presented a relatively high methanol yield of 82 162 μmol g h (with a methanol selectivity of ∼74%).

Efficient CH oxidation to C1/C2 oxygenates over cluster-dispersing Rh decorated ZSM-5.

Crafting highly dispersed active metal sites on catalysts is an optimal method for improving the catalytic reactivity and stability, as it would improve atomic utilization efficiency, enhance reactant adsorption and activation ability through unique geometric and electronic properties. In this study, two synthesis methods were employed (ammonia evaporation (AE) and the impregnation method (IM)) to load Rh species onto the ZSM-5 support in order to attain tunable dispersivity, during which a 1.25-fold increase in the total yield of liquid oxygenated products (32 433.

Fully upgrade bamboo biomass into three multifunctional products through biphasic γ-valerolactone and aqueous phosphoric acid pretreatment.

In this manuscript, three components of lignocellulosic biomass were obtained by deconstructing bamboo with γ-valerolactone-HO biphasic system, and the delignification rate of 80.92 % was achieved at 120 °C for 90 min. Lignin nanospheres with diameters ranging from 75 nm to 2 um could be customized by varying the self-assembly rate.

CuO nanoparticles and Cu-OH motif decorated ZSM-5 for selective methane oxidation to methyl oxygenates.

Copper decorated zeolites are promising candidates for the partial oxidation of methane to generate methanol with elevated energy density, nevertheless, the modulation and possible synergism between multiple Cu active sites still need to be delved in depth. Here, ZSM-5 catalysts with modulated Cu motifs were proposed using copper oxysalts as precursors through a calcination process. By modifying the contents of copper oxysalts precursors, the Cu active sites varied, and a unique M shaped trend of CHOH productivity emerged.