Effects of Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba Dopants on the Performance of LaO Catalysts for the Oxidative Coupling of Methane.

Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is a reaction to directly convert methane into high value-added hydrocarbons (C) such as ethylene and ethane using molecular oxygen and a catalyst. This work investigated lanthanum oxide catalysts for OCM, which were promoted with alkaline-earth metal oxides (Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba) and prepared by the solution-mixing method. The synthesized catalysts were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction, CO-programmed desorption, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.