Engineering surface lattice hydroxyl groups toward highly efficient photocatalytic methane coupling

Nb3O7(OH) containing abundant surface lattice hydroxyl groups, combining with loaded Au nanoparticles as the cocatalyst, was employed as a photocatalyst enabling highly efficient photocatalytic CH4 coupling to C2H6 under mild conditions. In situ spectroscopy technique revealed that the surface lattice hydroxyl groups play a vital role in promoting the activation of CH4 to produce the methoxy intermediates, contributing to significantly enhanced catalytic performance for CH4 conversion. This work designs a Nb3O7(OH) photocatalyst containing surface lattice hydroxyl groups for promoting photocatalytic CH4 coupling to C2H6 under mild conditions.