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source: China Chemical Industry News The Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced on February 24 that the scientific research team led by researcher Wang Wenzhong of the institute has made new progress in the research of photocatalytic conversion of methane and proposed a new strategy for direct conversion of methane into liquid fuel under mild conditions. Photocatalytic direct conversion can break the constraints of traditional thermodynamic equilibrium, allowing the conversion of methane to proceed at low temperature and normal pressure. Wang Wenzhong's research team designed and prepared copper-modified carbon nitride materials to achieve direct photocatalytic conversion of methane to ethanol, and conducted in-depth research on the mechanism of this process. In response to the problem that methane is prone to overactivation and complete mineralization, the research team started from the two perspectives of the generation of reactive oxygen species and the adsorption and activation of methane. By modifying copper in the ordered cavities of the carbon nitride material, it not only achieved the in-situ generation of hydroxyl radicals, but also promoted the material's activation of methane CH bonds and the stabilization of highly active intermediate species. The material shows excellent photocatalytic methane conversion performance. The copper species in the material has a synergistic effect with neighboring carbon atoms, making the conversion process proceed along the path of methane-methanol-ethanol. As the main component of natural gas, shale gas, etc., methane has the advantages of relatively abundant reserves and low price. It is one of the cores of research and development in academia and industry in the field of replacing petroleum to produce liquid fuels and basic chemicals. The selective activation and directional conversion of methane is a worldwide problem and is known as the "Holy Grail" in the field of catalysis and even chemistry. So far, methane has usually been converted by indirect methods, using steam reforming at high temperatures to convert methane into syngas, and then through Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to obtain multi-carbon basic chemicals. ； Or produce methanol from syngas to produce other chemicals. This conversion route has high energy consumption and emits a large amount of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide during the process, which not only brings environmental load, but also reduces the utilization rate of total carbon to less than half. Therefore, scientists have been working hard to explore methods for direct conversion and utilization of methane.