Post by Clement Camp

I am extremely proud to announce the publication of our work entitled “Heterobimetallic Iridium-Niobia Catalyst for Efficient and Selective Methane Ammonia Reforming” in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, carried out through an international collaboration between: University of Missouri, USA (Pr. Xiang Yizhi) CNRS / CPE Lyon / Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France (Clement Camp) Argonne National Laboratory, USA (Pr. Tao Li) Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eVSvr3Rt Methane, the main component of natural gas, represents a vast carbon resource that remains largely underutilized worldwide. Developing efficient pathways for methane upgrading into higher-value chemicals is therefore a major scientific, economic, and environmental challenge. In this context, we investigated the ammonia-assisted reforming of methane, a reaction of particular interest for the direct production of hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen. Current industrial processes operate under extremely harsh conditions. In this study, we show that a heterobimetallic catalyst associating niobium with iridium at the surface of silica, and prepared by a surface organometallic chemistry methodology, is very efficient catalyst for methane-ammonia reforming and operates under comparatively mild conditions (≤ 650 °C, significantly lower than the ≥1200 °C typically required in industrial BMA processes). This catalyst exhibits remarkable performance, with HCN selectivities up to ~75%, high activity and good stability, outperforming both monometallic analogues and benchmark reference catalysts. Overall, this work demonstrates how heterobimetallic design strategies can unlock new catalytic regimes in methane activation. I gratefully acknowledge all collaborators for their hard work and for making this international effort possible. #ChemicalResearch #Catalysis #CatalysisResearch #Methane #Ammonia #MethaneReforming #Heterobimetallic #InorganicChemistry #MaterialsResearch