Plasma catalytic non-oxidative methane conversion to hydrogen and value-added hydrocarbons on zeolite 13X

•Pd-Ga/13X catalyst delivered the highest CH4 conversion and product yield compared to monometallic catalysts.•Pd-Ga/13X converted 70 % CH4 to a H2 yield of 28 % and 23% of total hydrocarbons at a relatively low plasma power of 10 W.•Energetic electrons played an important role in the activation and dissociation of C–H bonds in the gaseous plasma.•Both energetic electrons, catalyst activity, and plasma-catalyst synergisms determined the final methane conversion performance for the plasma-catalyst process.