Theoretical study on development of new catalysts for effective oxidative coupling of methane

Abstract

Methane is a major component of natural gas and shale gas. The importance of methane activation technology continuously increased along with natural and shale gas industry. However, methane is a highly stable hydrocarbon and requires high temperature for activation. In this thesis, based on the first-principle density functional theory, we study methane activation catalysts in order to invest new catalysts which can efficiently activate methane at low temperature. Furthermore, we desire catalysts capable of methane conversion into valuable compounds such as ethane and ethylene.