CO-assisted partial oxidation of methane and selective C1 oxygenate formation using iridium-ZSM-5 catalyst

Abstract The direct partial oxidation of methane to oxygenates remains challenging. Here, CO-assisted methane conversion was investigated using an Ir-ZSM-5 catalyst, and it achieved higher C1 selectivity compared with that achieved using a model Rh-ZSM-5 catalyst. A plausible reaction sequence is proposed via kinetic analysis, and the differences between the two catalysts were revealed.