Electro-conversion of methane to alcohols on “capsule-like” binary metal oxide catalysts

Research on the electro-conversion of methane has been driven by the necessity of addressing a key catalytic challenge to oxidize methane to liquid products at ambient conditions. In this work, we employed a series of binary metal oxide catalysts with capsule-like morphology by anchoring ZrO2 on Cu oxide (CuOx) for the oxidation of methane. The ZrO2:CuOx(180, 24) was found to convert methane with a difference in current density up to 13.35 mA cm−2 in comparison with ZrO2, CuOx, and other ZrO2:CuOx. The density functional theory calculations show that the enhanced activity originated from the increased charge distribution in ZrO2 after the ZrO2 cluster grew on the Cu2O(111), which enhances the activity of CH4 dissociation and improves the electronic conduction through Cu2O support. Benefiting from these advantages, the hybrids exhibit a high catalytic activity and stability. Surprisingly, 1-propanol and 2-propanol were the main products after 18 -h operation under ambient conditions.