PNNL

Abstract

Direct conversion of methane to value-added chemicals remains a challenge from both scientific and industrial points of view. In 1993, Wang et al. reported that methane can be transformed into aromatics on Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts under non-oxidative condition.1 Although remarkable progress has been made in the studies of the methane dehydroaromatization (MDA) reaction since that time, the reaction mechanism is still being debated,2 mainly due to the lack of understanding of the active center on Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts.3 It has been hypothesized that molybdenum may migrate into zeolitic channels and anchor on Brönsted acid sites during the synthesis. However, it is unclear whether the active molybdenum species are small crystallites or isolated exchanged species.