Recent advances and future prospect in catalysts for oxidative coupling of methane to ethylene: A review

Despite its inherent constraints which hindered significant improvement in the process catalytically, the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) remains an indispensable prospective approach for converting methane directly into vital chemicals such as ethylene. Recently, there is an upsurge in research effort towards better understanding of the oxidative coupling of methane process in terms of its mechanism, catalyst design and synthesis. This review discusses recent advances in crucial aspects related to the catalyst such as active sites, oxygen vacancy, acid–base property, surface oxide reducibility, oxide-support interaction, and prospects of nanowires with the aim to improve the performance of the OCM process.