MoS <sub>2</sub> Catalysts Selectively Achieve High Yield of Liquid Oxygenate from Direct Conversion of Methane via Hydroxyl Radicals
ABSTRACT Directly converting methane (CH 4 ) into liquid oxygenates (e.g., methanol) can circumvent the cost and engineering limits of natural gas transportation and storage. However, oxygenate yields from CH 4 remain low, and sulfur present in natural gas hinders activity in most catalysts. To overcome these barriers, we employ bulk molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ), a low‐cost, robust catalyst which selectively produces large quantities of liquid oxygenates (>900 µmol/g cat ∙hr) from methane in the presence of hydroxyl (OH • ) radicals produced from dilute hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) at 75°C. Under realistic reaction conditions, MoS 2 partially and reversibly adopts a metastable, more electrically conductive phase (1T’) that can only be observed through in situ structural probes. Herein, we elucidate that redox synergy between H 2 O 2 and MoS 2 produces active OH • radical species that selectively transform CH 4 to surface methoxy species at the gas‐solid liquid interface, leading to the unitary production of liquid oxygenate at a rate competitive with more costly precious metal catalysts, without additional catalyst preparation steps.
Authors
- Ayaskanta Sahu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1508-0213)
- Long Qi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7987-8929)
- Akhil Tayal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8152-4209)
- Juan D. Jiménez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4710-1047)
- Dominik Wierzbicki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0558-7405)
- Sanjaya D. Senanayake (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3991-4232)
- Jorge Moncada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9960-4135)
- Shannon M. Mahurin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3792-1631)
- Jordi Llorca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7447-9582)
- Uddhav Kanbur (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1345-6085)
- Albert Bruix (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2585-5542)
- Eli Stavitski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3337-2930)
- Michelle K. Kidder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0851-835X)
- Milinda Abeykoon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6965-3753)
- Steven L. Farrell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7396-583X)
- Arephin Islam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8528-859X)
- Yuting Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2236-6612)
- Emanuele Telari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3296-959X)
- Anna X. Chen
- Jie Zhang
Institutions
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- Iowa State University (US)
- Brookhaven National Laboratory (US)
- New York University (US)
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2026-06-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.76526
- Primary Topic
- Catalysis and Oxidation Reactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Office of Science
- American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Ames Laboratory