Novel catalysts for methane activation. Quarterly report number 10, January 1--March 31, 1995

Fullerenes are a recently discovered allotrope of carbon that possess unusual properties, some of which may be ideal for methane activation. This project is designed to evaluate these carbon-based materials for conversion of methane into higher hydrocarbons. The project is divided into three technical tasks: synthesis and characterization of the fullerenes and fullerene soots; testing of catalysts; and evaluation of the results and technical reporting. The authors had two objectives for this quarter. The first objective was to complete their study of the K-doped fullerene soots to include the selectivity of these materials as a function of methane conversion. The second objective was to identify and evaluate other metal promoters, and the combination of transition and alkali metals to enhance the selectivity of the methane conversion process and hopefully reduce the temperature of reaction. Results from these two tasks are discussed.