The Influence of UiO‐bpy Skeleton for the Direct Methane‐to‐Methanol Conversion on Cu@UiO‐bpy: Importance of the Encapsulation Effect

Abstract The influence of UiO‐bpy skeleton for the direct methane‐to‐methanol conversion on Cu@UiO‐bpy is studied by experiment and DFT. It is found that Cu@UiO‐bpy shows high methanol yield and stability. However, if the UiO‐bpy skeleton is destroyed, the active sites of small Cu x O x clusters grow into CuO nanoparticles due to the thermal movement during the reaction. As a result, the catalyst is deactivated. In other words, the encapsulation effect is a key factor for catalyst stability, which prevents the growth of Cu x O x clusters. In addition, the encapsulation effect of UiO‐bpy skeleton affects the morphology and size of Cu x O x clusters, of which small Cu x O x clusters are beneficial for methane conversion.