Conversion of methane to benzene over Mo2C and Mo2C/ZSM-5 catalysts

The activation and dehydrogenation of CH4 on Mo2C and Mo2C/ZSM-5 have been investigated under non-oxidizing conditions. Unsupported Mo2C exhibited very little activity towards methane decomposition at 973 K. The main reaction pathway was the decomposition of methane to give hydrogen and carbon with a trace amount of ethane. Mixing Mo2C with ZSM-5 support somewhat enhanced its catalytic activity, but did not change the products of the reaction. A dramatic change in the product formation occurred on partially oxidized Mo2C/ZSM-5 catalyst; besides some hydrocarbons benzene was produced with a selectivity of 70-80% at a conversion of 5-7%. Carburization of highly dispersed MoO3 on ZSM-5 also led to a very active catalyst: the conversion of methane at the steady state was 5-6% and the selectivity of benzene formation was 85%.