Identification of molybdenum oxide nanostructures on zeolites for natural gas conversion

Abstract

Waste not, want not Natural gas often escapes or is deliberately burned at remote exploration sites because there is no economical way to transport it to markets. One route proposed for converting its main component, methane, into a more readily transported liquid is conversion to benzene over zeolites containing molybdenum (Mo). However, this method suffers from low conversion efficiency. Gao et al. identified the active Mo nanostructures as well as deactivated carbide species that form during this reaction. They were also able to recover and even enhance the zeolite catalytic activity after oxygen treatments. Science , this issue p. 686