@article {42828,
	title = {C-H activation of methane to formaldehyde on Ce1-xZrxO2 thin films: a step to bridge the material gap},
	journal = {ChemCatChem},
	volume = {8},
	year = {2016},
	month = {DEC},
	pages = {3650{\textendash}3656},
	type = {Article},
	abstract = {<p>Ce1-xZrxO2 (CZ) thin films were prepared by a combination of sol{\textendash}gel and spin-coating methods and were evaluated for the C-H activation of methane by using a molecular beam set-up with the aim to bridge the material gap. The C-H activation of methane begins at 950 K, and a Ce-rich CZ composition displays a high selectivity (4{\textendash}12 \%) to the partially oxidised product, formaldehyde. A 10{\textendash}12 \% selectivity towards HCHO with 1.6 \% methane conversion was observed with methane-rich CH4/O2 reactant compositions at 1050 K. Short contact times, prevalent under molecular beam conditions, could be a possible reason for HCHO formation. Although combustion products were observed instantly upon shining the mixture of reactants on CZ surfaces, up to 20 s delay was observed before formaldehyde generation, which indicates that the oxygen vacancy migration contributes to the rate-determining step and the diffusion-controlled nature of the reaction. A burst in HCHO generation at the point of molecular beam opening, after beam-closed conditions, suggests that the diffusion of oxygen vacancies to the surface is the reason for HCHO formation. Kinetics results also indicate the necessity of reduction sites for HCHO generation.</p>},
	doi = {10.1002/cctc.201600670},
	author = {Dubey, Anjani and Kolekar, Sadhu K. and Gopinath, Chinnakonda S.}
}
