Oxidative Coupling of Methane: Examining the Inactivity of the MnOx-Na2WO4/SiO2 Catalyst at Low Temperature

Graphical For the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) reaction, the MnO x -Na 2 WO 4 /SiO 2 catalyst enriched with Q 2 units in the SiO 2 carrier achieves 23 % CH 4 conversion and 72 % C 2–3 selectivity at 660 °C. A large number of Q 2 units in MnO x -Na 2 WO 4 /SiO 2 is a trigger for markedly lowering the light-off temperature of the Mn 3+ ↔Mn 2+ redox cycle because of the easy formation of MnSiO 3 . Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) catalyzed by MnO x -Na 2 WO 4 /SiO 2 has great industrial promise to convert methane directly to C 2–3 products, but its high light-off temperature is the most challenging obstacle to commercialization and its working mechanism is still a mystery. We report the discovery of a low-temperature active and selective MnO x -Na 2 WO 4 /SiO 2 catalyst enriched with Q 2 units in the SiO 2 carrier, being capable of converting 23 % CH 4 with 72 % C 2–3 selectivity at 660 °C. From experiments and theoretical calculations, a large number of Q 2 units in the MnO x -Na 2 WO 4 /SiO 2 catalyst is a trigger for markedly lowering the light-off temperature of the Mn 3+ ↔Mn 2+ redox cycle involved in the OCM reaction because of the easy formation of MnSiO 3 . Notably, the MnSiO 3 formation proceeds merely through the SiO 2 -involved reaction in the presence of Na 2 WO 4 : Mn 7 SiO 12 +6 SiO 2 ↔7 MnSiO 3 +1.5 O 2 . The Na 2 WO 4 not only drives the light-off of this cycle but also gets it working with substantial selectivity toward C 2–3 products. Our findings shine a light on the rational design of more advanced MnO x -Na 2 WO 4 based OCM catalysts through establishing new Mn 3+ ↔Mn 2+ redox cycles with lowered light-off temperature.