Photocatalytic selective oxidation of methane by quantum sized bismuth vanadate

Selective oxidation of methane to desirable C1 oxygenates has long been the major challenge in catalysis. Here we report photocatalytic oxidation of methane by using quantum-sized bismuth vanadate nanoparticles as catalyst and oxygen as mild oxidant. A high selectivity towards methanol (1.1 mmol g-1 yield and 96.6% selectivity) and formaldehyde (13.1 mmol g-1 yield and 86.7% selectivity) products is successfully realized by simply controlling the light wavelength, light energy, reaction time and the amount of water solvent. Comprehensive characterizations disclose that the radical reaction mechanism is responsible for this efficient photocatalytic methane conversion.