Catalytic and electrochemical oxidation of methane on platinum

Abstract

The partial oxidation of methane to ethane and ethylene is of considerable interest and has been recently reviewed. It is widely accepted that over selective catalysts, including Li/MgO, Bi{sub 2}O{sub 3}, and Sm{sub 2}O{sub 3}, methane initially reacts on active sites to form CH{sub 3}{center dot}radicals which combine in the gas phase to form C{sub 2}H{sub 6}. Several investigators have recently used solid electrolyte reactor cells to influence the intrinsic catalytic activity or product selectivity. In this work, the catalytic and electrocatalytic oxidation of methane over Pt is investigated in a solid electrolyte cell to find if C{sub 2} formation can be electrocatalytically enhanced. To aid kinetic understanding, solid electrolyte potentiometry (SEP) is used to measure the thermodynamic activity of adsorbed oxygen.