title: Low-Temperature Conversion of Methane to Methanol on CeOx/Cu2O Catalysts: Water Controlled Activation of the C-H Bond.
abstract: An inverse CeO2/Cu2O/Cu(111) catalyst is able to activate methane at room temperature producing C, CHxfragments and COxspecies on the oxide surface. The addition of water to the system leads to a drastic change in the selectivity of methane activation yielding only adsorbed CHxfragments. At a temperature of 450 K, in the presence of water, a CH4→ CH3OH catalytic transformation occurs with a high selectivity. OH groups formed by the dissociation of water saturate the catalyst surface, removing sites that could decompose CHxfragments, and generating centers on which methane can directly interact to yield methanol.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Coal Science and Technology of Ministry of Education and Shanxi Province, Taiyuan University of Technology , Taiyuan 030024, Shanxi, China.
authors.forename: Zhijun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela , Caracas 1020-A, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Pedro J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory , Upton, New York 11973, United States.
authors.forename: Sanjaya D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Senanayake
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory , Upton, New York 11973, United States.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory , Upton, New York 11973, United States.
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rodriguez