Decorating titania with ultrasmall UiO-66-H crystallites enables quantitative photocatalytic oxidation of methane to oxygenates.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 42056118.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-72422-8.
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Abstract
Selective photocatalytic oxidation of methane to liquid oxygenates under ambient conditions remains challenging due to the inert C-H bond and propensity for over-oxidation. Controlling carrier transfer and reactive oxygen species is therefore essential to the selective methane photooxidation. Ultrasmall zirconium metal-organic framework (UiO-66-H) nanocrystals in situ grown on titania form a heterojunction that promotes efficient charge separation and tunes the interfacial band alignment. Comprehensive experiments and characterization reveal that this heterojunction precisely regulates <sup>•</sup>OH and <sup>•</sup>OOH generation, enabling controlled, radical-mediated oxidation of methane with a competitive oxygenate yield and nearly 100% selectivity at room temperature using air as an oxidant. In this work, ultrasmall metal-organic framework-semiconductor heterojunctions with a built-in electric field provide an effective route for developing efficient, low-cost photocatalysts for methane chemical valorization under mild, solar-driven conditions.