Photocatalytic oxidation of methane over SrCO decorated SrTiO nanocatalysts via a synergistic effect.

Because of the high C-H bond energy as well as the non-polar feature of CH molecules, oxidation of methane under mild conditions remains a challenging task for both C1 utilization and atmospheric environmental cleansing. Here we report that by using a sol-gel method SrCO decorated SrTiO nanocatalysts (SrTiO-S) with an average particle size of ∼25 nm can be readily prepared, which surprisingly show efficient performance for photocatalytic oxidation of methane with the activity close to fourfold of P25, a benchmark photocatalyst. Further investigation revealed a synergistic effect between SrCO and SrTiO when combined together into a composite material as both of which are totally inactive for methane oxidation if used alone. Gas adsorption characterization disclosed that the SrCO can adsorb methane and cannot adsorb carbon dioxide, whereas the SrTiO will preferentially adsorb CO instead of CH. Photocurrent and photoluminescence measurements indicate that SrCO exhibits a negligible photocurrent response relative to the SrTiO semiconductor under simulated solar light illumination but the formation of the SrCO/SrTiO junction structure (SrTiO-S) helps reduce surface recombination of the photogenerated electrons and holes. All these results refer to the synergistic mechanism in which the SrCO acts as a trapping agent to adsorb methane and weaken its C-H bond while the SrTiO acts as a photocatalyst to activate and oxidize methane under light illumination. The underlying photooxidation mechanism is further investigated with the aid of in situ electron paramagnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy.