The oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is among the most studied reaction for methane upgrading in the past four decades. High C2 yield and excellent long-term stability have been reported on the Mn/Na2WO4/SiO2 catalyst. However, because of the structural complexity, the roles of each component in the catalyst have been controversial, which hinders the rational design of OCM catalyst with improved performance. In this work, WOx and MnOx sites were grafted on well-defined oxide nanowires and employed in OCM studies. Compared to the commonly used silica support, which subjects to severe structural changes associated with crystallization due to the presence of Na, oxide nanowires exhibit superior intrinsic thermal stability. Moreover, the nanowire morphology facilitates straightforward structural characterizations such as advanced electron microscopy. Several control catalysts were synthesized, which clearly demonstrate the roles of MnOx and WOx in the OCM reaction. The catalytic performance of the nanowire-based catalyst is similar to that of a standard reference catalyst, Na2WO4-MnOx/SiO2, suggesting that these nanowire-based catalysts can be employed as model catalysts for studying the synergistic effect between MnOx and WOx sites.

Nanowire-supported Mn-W-Na catalysts for the oxidative coupling of methane

ACS Fall 2021

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