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PreprintCC BYChemRxiv

Thermo-photo catalytic partial oxidation of methane on hematite nanosheets functionalized with silver nanoparticles

  • Jake Heinlein1,2,3
  • Aislinn Whalen1,2
  • Gaukhar Alzhanova1,2
  • Manav Singh1,2
  • Octavio Balbarin1,2
  • Yue Wang4,5,6,7
  • Haiyan Tan8,9
  • Shomeek Mukhopadhyay1,2
  • Shu Hu1,2,3
  • Lisa D. Pfefferle1,2
9 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering
  2. 2Yale University
  3. 3Energy Science Institute
  4. 4School of Chemistry
  5. 5Xi'an Jiaotong University
  6. 6School of Pharmacy
  7. 7Health Science Center, Xi’an Jiatong University
  8. 8Institute of Materials Science, Department of Chemistry
  9. 9University of Connecticut
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Abstract

Converting reactions driven by thermocatalysis to thermo-photo catalysis can offer several advantages, such as allowing the reaction to proceed under less harsh conditions to improve stability and tune reaction selectivity. Here, we report on using a dilute loading of silver nanoparticles on high surface area hematite nanosheets, an earth-abundant material, to transform our demonstrated thermocatalytic conversion of methane to a thermo-photo conversion of methane with lowered onset temperatures and a shift in reaction mechanism. With a dilute loading of spherical silver nanoparticles, reaction onset temperatures were lowered to 150 °C from 300 °C. Additionally, reaction products were shifted to CO, decreasing the selectivity toward CO 2 and suggesting novel mechanistic pathways. The catalysts demonstrate great stability, with only a corresponding 4.9% and 11.3% decrease in activity over the bare and decorated catalyst over 15 hours. The fundamental relationships between reaction conversion and temperature, light intensity, and light wavelength studied in this work are important for providing a guideline for tuning other reactions with thermo-photo catalysis to improve catalyst conversion, selectivity, and stability.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{heinlein2026thermophoto,
  title = {{Thermo-photo catalytic partial oxidation of methane on hematite nanosheets functionalized with silver nanoparticles}},
  author = {Jake Heinlein and Aislinn Whalen and Gaukhar Alzhanova and Manav Singh and Octavio Balbarin and Yue Wang and Haiyan Tan and Shomeek Mukhopadhyay and Shu Hu and Lisa D. Pfefferle},
  howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15010332/v1},
  url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010332/v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Thermo-photo catalytic partial oxidation of methane on hematite nanosheets functionalized with silver nanoparticles
AU  - Jake Heinlein
AU  - Aislinn Whalen
AU  - Gaukhar Alzhanova
AU  - Manav Singh
AU  - Octavio Balbarin
AU  - Yue Wang
AU  - Haiyan Tan
AU  - Shomeek Mukhopadhyay
AU  - Shu Hu
AU  - Lisa D. Pfefferle
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/13
PB  - ChemRxiv
DO  - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15010332/v1
UR  - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010332/v1
AB  - Converting reactions driven by thermocatalysis to thermo-photo catalysis can offer several advantages, such as allowing the reaction to proceed under less harsh conditions to improve stability and tune reaction selectivity. Here, we report on using a dilute loading of silver nanoparticles on high surface area hematite nanosheets, an earth-abundant material, to transform our demonstrated thermocatalytic conversion of methane to a thermo-photo conversion of methane with lowered onset temperatures and a shift in reaction mechanism. With a dilute loading of spherical silver nanoparticles, reaction onset temperatures were lowered to 150 °C from 300 °C. Additionally, reaction products were shifted to CO, decreasing the selectivity toward CO 2 and suggesting novel mechanistic pathways. The catalysts demonstrate great stability, with only a corresponding 4.9% and 11.3% decrease in activity over the bare and decorated catalyst over 15 hours. The fundamental relationships between reaction conversion and temperature, light intensity, and light wavelength studied in this work are important for providing a guideline for tuning other reactions with thermo-photo catalysis to improve catalyst conversion, selectivity, and stability.
ER  -