Many researchers are working on an efficient method to convert methane into methanol because the main cause of global warming is due to the burning of petroleum, which emits greenhouse gases. The extraction of crude oil would pollute our environment. The present method of methanol production is inefficient and generally yields less than 5%. Moreover, the traditional two-step process is very expensive and energy intensive. Therefore, the primary objective of my research is to develop a novel Cu-Zn based heterogeneous catalyst to enhance the catalytic conversion of methane for the synthesis of value added chemical such as methanol. The Cu-Zn-based solution we developed can be tuned to be either acidic or basic to adapt to different catalyst supports. The solution was characterized by Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and the band adsorption for Cu and Zn was observed. The heterogeneous catalyst was synthesized on alumina support (acidic) and active carbon support (basic) via Wet Incipient Impregnation method. The synthesized catalyst is to be tested for methane oxidation at Brookhaven National Lab (BNL). Catalyst characterization such as Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) surface area, pore size and volume, Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) will be carried out at BNL and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP, a top institute in catalysis in China) with an aim to establish a relationship between activity and various properties. This fundamental study will serve as good guidance for us to understand the reaction pathway of methane oxidation
