Abstract
Methane (CH4) oxidation to high value chemicals under mild conditions through photocatalysis is a sustainable and appealing pathway, nevertheless confronting the critical issues on both conversion and selectivity. Herein, under visible irradiation (420 nm), the synergy of palladium (Pd) atom cocatalyst and oxygen vacancies (OVs) on In2O3 nanorods enabled superior photocatalytic CH4 activation by O2. The optimised catalyst reached ca. 100 µmol·h− 1 of C1 oxygenates, with a selectivity of primary products (CH3OH and CH3OOH) up to 82.5 %. Mechanism investigation elucidated that such superior photocatalysis was induced by the dedicated function of Pd single atoms and oxygen vacancies on boosting hole and electron transfer pathway, respectively. O2 was proven to be the only oxygen source for CH3OH production, while H2O acted as the promoter for efficient CH4 activation through ·OH production and facilitated product desorption as indicated by DFT modelling. This work thus provides new understandings on simultaneous regulation of activity and selectivity by the significant synergy of single atom cocatalysts and oxygen vacancies.
