Designing main-group catalysts for low-temperature methane combustion by ozone.

The catalytic combustion of methane at a low temperature is becoming increasingly key to controlling unburned CH emissions from natural gas vehicles and power plants, although the low activity of benchmark platinum-group-metal catalysts hinders its broad application. Based on automated reaction route mapping, we explore main-group elements catalysts containing Si and Al for low-temperature CH combustion with ozone. Computational screening of the active site predicts that strong Brønsted acid sites are promising for methane combustion.