Plasma enhanced anti-coking performance of Pd/CeO2 catalysts for the conversion of methane

Abstract

The direct nonoxidative conversion of methane (CH₄) to valuable chemicals has attracted increasing interest. However, the carbon deposition will inevitably occur due to CH₄ decomposition at high temperature. Here, we report the conversion of CH₄ assisted by non-thermal plasma into olefins and H₂ over a Pd/CeO₂ catalyst. The addition of the plasma could effectively enhance the anti-coking performance of the catalyst, facilitating the conversion of CH₄. The interaction between plasma and catalyst was explored in detail. The energized electron and ions generated by plasma could interact with the adsorbed CH₃ species to efficiently suppress the consequent dehydrogenation of the adsorbed CH₃, accelerating the desorption of the CH₃ species from the surface of the catalyst, thus reducing the amount of carbon deposition on the catalyst surface. The highly efficient catalyst assisted by plasma is effective in enhancing the CH₄ conversion and suppressing the carbon deposition, which deserves to be widely applied in catalysis.