An effective coupling for coproducing aromatics and CO‐free hydrogen in a catalytic membrane reactor

Abstract Methane dehydroaromatization (MDA) using Mo/zeolite catalysts is a promising technology that enables the direct conversion of methane into valuable aromatics and hydrogen. However, non‐oxidative MDA suffers two main obstacles: thermodynamic limitations and rapid catalyst deactivation. Additionally, oxidative MDA often undergoes undesired oxidation to CO, reducing product selectivity and hindering efficient H 2 separation. We present an effective coupling strategy to coproduce aromatics and CO‐free H 2 by integrating water splitting into a catalytic membrane reactor (CMR). Compared with the fixed‐bed reactor (FBR), our CMR not only reduces coke formation by five times and increases aromatic yield over 10‐fold after 1000 min, but also obtains CO‐free H 2 on the water side. Further, a novel regeneration method is demonstrated by water splitting coupled with simply shutting off CH 4 , transforming the coke into valuable CO‐free H 2 and CO on both sides of our CMR, respectively, and enhancing the techno‐economic viability of the MDA process.