Editorial: Heterogeneous Catalysis for Methane Activation

Abstract

Editorial on the Research Topic Heterogeneous Catalysis for Methane ActivationDirectly converting methane into value-added chemicals and fuels is a "dream reaction" in heterogeneous catalysis because it allows abundant natural gas and shale gas to be used as C1 building block for producing chemicals (Zou et al., 2021). The high molecular stability, however, makes it difficult to directly convert methane into desired chemicals in an economically attractive way. Despite the challenges, significant progress has been made recently in the selective activation of methane into methanol (