Catalytic role of carbons in methane decomposition for CO- and CO2-free hydrogen generation.
Decomposition of methane is an environmentally attractive approach to CO- and CO(2)-free hydrogen production. Using first principles calculations at the density functional theory level, our studies demonstrate that the defective carbons can be used as catalysts for methane decomposition, without the need for other catalysts, such as transition metals or oxides, and the catalytic sites can be regenerated by the deposition of carbon decomposed from methane, to make the hydrogen production a continuous process. Additionally, since no other gases are produced in the process, the cost of CO(2) sequestration and hydrogen purification from CO contamination will be dramatically reduced.
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA. liping.s.huang@gmail.com
Liping
L
Huang
Erik E
EE
Santiso
Marco Buongiorno
MB
Nardelli
Keith E
KE
Gubbins