Near-Infrared Photon-Triggered CH4-to-CH3OH Conversion over Plasmonic Oxyselenides

Near-Infrared Photon-Triggered CH4-to-CH3OH Conversion over Plasmonic Oxyselenides | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Near-Infrared Photon-Triggered CH4-to-CH3OH Conversion over Plasmonic Oxyselenides Jiatao Zhang, Xiuming Zhang, Yuheng Jiang, Hongfei Gu, Haoqing Zhang, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6226138/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The direct oxidation of methane into methanol exploiting O2 as oxidant offers an ideal route for methane utilization. Although the reaction is strongly preferred in thermodynamics, conventional catalytic systems always demand intense energy input like high temperatures or high-energy photons (>2.8 eV) to conquer the large kinetic barrier in the conversion process. In this study, we demonstrate that by creation of a suitable plasmonic photocatalyst, namely oxygen-vacancy-rich CuSeO3-x, the low-energy near-infrared (NIR) photons can serve as the sole energy input to complete CH4-to-CH3OH conversion with remarkable activity (AQY of 1.5 % at 800 nm with Au cocatalyst) and near unity selectivity (ca. 96 %) at 25 ℃. Such fascinating performance is attributed to a small activation energy measured at 0.28 eV, enabled by the existence of CuII-Ov species in CuSeO3-x. Our study suggests that the ensemble of CuII-Ov constitutes an exceptional active site, which can harness the plasmon-induced hot electrons and meantime brings a kinetically advantageous route for reducing O2 into •OH radicals greatly favoring methane activation. Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis/Photocatalysis Physical sciences/Chemistry/Catalysis/Photocatalysis Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Supplementaryinformation.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6226138","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":436299866,"identity":"b3a07a78-fca5-48b6-af27-f6ec33ac0264","order_by":0,"name":"Jiatao 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Although the reaction is strongly preferred in thermodynamics, conventional catalytic systems always demand intense energy input like high temperatures or high-energy photons (\u003e2.8 eV) to conquer the large kinetic barrier in the conversion process. In this study, we demonstrate that by creation of a suitable plasmonic photocatalyst, namely oxygen-vacancy-rich CuSeO3-x, the low-energy near-infrared (NIR) photons can serve as the sole energy input to complete CH4-to-CH3OH conversion with remarkable activity (AQY of 1.5 % at 800 nm with Au cocatalyst) and near unity selectivity (ca. 96 %) at 25 ℃. Such fascinating performance is attributed to a small activation energy measured at 0.28 eV, enabled by the existence of CuII-Ov species in CuSeO3-x. 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