Catalyst converts methane to methanol at room temperature

Single iron atoms embedded in graphene can catalyse the conversion of methane into methanol at room temperature.

There is an abundance of methane in natural gas reserves and shale gas, which is burned for heating and cooking, and electrical power production. However, methane has so much more potential. Xinhe Bao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues have found a way to use methane that does not involve high temperature conversion with expensive noble metal catalysts. The relative inertness of methane with its strong C–H bonds means that oxidative coupling and direct dehydrogenation processes have to be carried out at temperatures between 600 and 1100°C.