Monitoring the oxidation of Cu(I) to Cu(II) active sites in methane to methanol conversion to reveal key aspects of their formation and to e

The oxidative activation of Cu-exchanged zeolites with O2 is a crucial step in tailoring the performance of the material in the conversion of CH4 to CH3OH. However, most studies focus on the reaction with CH4, leaving key aspects of the O2 activation process unrevealed. Time-resolved in situ Cu K-edge XAS is a versatile technique to determine the oxidation state of Cu species as well as changes in the local environment upon exposure to O2. Therefore, the scope of this proposal is to study the processes taking place during the activation of three different Cu-containing zeolite topologies, namely MOR, CHA, and MFI, to assess the structural parameters of active sites and their precursors. The three frameworks are known to stabilize chemically different monomeric and dimeric Cu(II) active sites, making them suitable model systems to study the formation of Cu(II) species. The advance in understanding the active site evolution will enable an additional rationale for materials design.