Pressure-induced dehydrogenative coupling of methane to ethane by platinum-loaded gallium oxide photocatalyst

Pt/Ga2O3 exhibited high activity for dehydrogenative coupling of methane into ethane (2CH4 → C2H6 + H2) in a fixed-bed flow reactor at 25 °C under 254 nm UV irradiation. The C2H6 formation was negligible at CH4 pressure of 10 kPa, but it was linearly increased with an increase in the pressure to 300 kPa.