BC/ISR Scientist Investigates Reports of Gold Catalyst for Methane-to-Ethene Conversion

A recent article co-authored by BC/ISR scientist Shaun Ard has been selected as a “HOT” result by the editors of the journal Catalysis Science & Technology. With members from AFRL, BC/ISR, the Univ. of New Mexico, and the Univ. of Utah, the team investigated reports that the Au₂+ molecule could serve as a catalyst for the conversion of methane (CH₄) into ethene (C₂H₄), a process that has industrial applications but is highly endothermic and endoergic. They performed experiments using the Selected-Ion Flow Tube at AFRL and the Guided Ion Beam Tandem Mass Spectrometer at the Univ. of Utah. They also explored potential reaction pathways theoretically, carrying out extensive calculations using density functional theory. No empirical evidence was found for the conversion to have occurred in the lab experiments, and the theoretical results show that there is no low-energy pathway present even with a catalyst of Au₂+. The team reports their full results in “Au₂+ Cannot Catalyze Conversion of Methane to Ethene at Low Temperature” by Shuman et al. 2019, available at https://doi.org/10.1039/C9CY00523D

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