Synergistic effects in the oxidation of methane on strontium and lead hydroxyapatites

Abstract

The oxidation of methane has been investigated on lead hydroxyapatite (PbHAp), strontium hydroxyapatite (SrHAp) and their binary mixtures at 873 K. PbHAp showed no activity for the oxidation of methane, while SrHAp produced carbon monoxide selectively at 2–4% conversion. On binary mixtures of the hydroxyapatites the conversion of methane and the selectivity to C2 compounds reached values higher than those of the separate constituents of the mixture. With tetrachloromethane in the feed stream a similar synergistic effect was observed with conversions of methane and selectivities to CH3Cl higher on the binary mixtures than those on either SrHAp or PbHAp. The strontium-containing hydroxyapatite appears to play a crucial role in the activation of methane, while the presence of the lead-containing analogue is apparently required for the minimization of undesirable processes involving methyl radicals.