The temperature-programmed reaction of CH4 on an Li-Fe-O/Al2O3 catalyst surface reoxidized by carbon dioxide and oxygen

The temperature-programmed reaction of CH4 with an Li-FeO/Al2O3 catalyst surface reoxidized by carbon dioxide and oxygen was studied in the absence of molecular oxygen. The maxima of the CO2 formation rate and the C-2 hydrocarbon formation rate were observed at different temperatures. The transformation of CH4 to C-2. hydrocarbon and the transformation to CO2 were conjectured to occur via different reaction routes. The CH3O- species is suggested to be an intermediate of the reaction, and the conditions under which it is decomposed define the direction of methane oxidation, A metal with basic properties favors the decomposition of methoxide to produce methyl radicals, which further escape to the volume.