Synthesis of nanocrystalline Li/MgO catalyst by sol-gel method for oxidative coupling of methane

In this work, a series of Li/MgO nanocatalysts with varying lithium contents were prepared via the sol-gel method for the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM). The preparation routine consists of co-gelation of LiNO3 and Mg(OCH3) in methanol/water solution followed by drying at 70 oC under vacuum and calcination at 500 oC in air. The prepared catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction and SEM techniques. The catalytic performance of the synthesized Li/MgO nanocatalysts was carried out using a fixed bed reactor at 675–800 oC, while lithium loading was varied. According to the experimental results, the methane conversion was similar with only small fluctuation to the amount of lithium and higher olefin yield was obtained with the 5 wt% Li/MgO nanocatalysts in oxidative coupling of methane.

Keywords:

Nanocatalyst , Li/MgO , Sol-gel , Oxidative coupling of methane