Graphene-Supported Single-Atom Ni as High-Performance Catalyst for Direct Methane-to-Methanol Conversion

Inspired by the excellent performance of NiO+ in converting CH4 to CH3OH in the gas phase and the efficiency of single-atom catalysts, we constructed a Ni–O active site on single-vacant (SV) graphene by using O3/N2O as the oxidant. Quantum chemistry calculations predict Ni/SV-graphene to be a potential catalyst for CH4-to-CH3OH conversion, outperforming Pd or Pt/SV-graphene in both the activity and selectivity. The radical pathway is favored, and the C–H bond activation is the rate-determining step, during which an electron is transferred from CH4 to the O-atom of OM/SV-graphene and pushes an electron from σM–O orbital to σM–O*. The ONi/SV-graphene has smaller σM–O* to σM–O energy gap than its Pd/Pt counterparts, thus more readily transferring the electron to activate the C–H bond, making it the best catalyst. In addition, Ni/SV-graphene is capable of recycling and avoiding overoxidizing of methanol. This study provides theoretical insights into developing efficient noble-metal-free catalysts for direct CH4-to-CH3OH conversion.