Direct conversion of methane on single-atom catalysts

Direct methane conversion (DMC) to high value-added chemicals (such as methanol, etc.) is one of the most important ways to efficiently utilize methane. Because methane is very stable, it is quite challenging to be activated especially under mild conditions (reaction temperature ≤150 °C without strong acid). Recently, single-atom catalysts (SACs) have attracted wide attention in many reactions for their high utilization of active species and high selectivity for target products. It has been reported that SACs exhibited unique catalytic properties in the activation of methane. In this review, we focused on the research progress of DMC reaction on SACs under mild conditions. We mainly summarized the SACs of the precious and base metal and the reaction route of methane activation in the field of thermal catalysis. Besides, the DMC reaction over the SACs in the photocatalysis process was also briefly summarized. Finally, we prospected the research on the DMC over the SACs under mild conditions in the future.