(544gw) A Systematic Experimental Study on Electrochemical Oxidation of Methane over Transition Metals

One of the most potent greenhouse gases is methane which contributes significantly to global warming. Methane is also an industrially important feedstock for the production of synthesis gas (CO and H₂, which can be later used in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis), methanol, acetic acid, formaldehyde and various liquid hydrocarbon fuels. All the commercially relevant processes require oxidation of methane to produce these chemicals. At present, methane oxidation is dominantly done by thermocatalytic processes at a large scale which are very energy intensive. Hence, there is a need to find a sustainable route to oxidize methane. One such alternative route is electrochemical oxidation of methane in aqueous solutions. This route has a major advantage of operation at ambient conditions unlike the conventional thermocatalytic processes. Here we present a systematic experimental study by analyzing the activity of the first-row transition metals towards methane oxidation in a near neutral and an alkaline pH environment. The electrochemical study is done in a compact methane sparged stagnant-electrode stagnant-electrolyte electrochemical cell with transition metals as working electrodes and Pt as the counter. The Methane oxidation product distribution, partial current densities, and Faradaic efficiencies over different metals will also be shown as a part of this work.