Autothermal Oxidative Coupling of Methane over Pt/Al 2 O 3 Catalysts Doped with Rare Earth Oxides

The effect of rare earth oxides as dopants on the Pt-governed oxidative coupling of methane (Pt-OCM) is investigated.
The addition of 20 wt.-% of La-, Nd-, Sm-, and Pr-oxides to the support benefits the C$_2$ product selectivity and offers the
potential to enhance the catalyst stability. Compared to the reference catalyst Pt/Al$_2$O$_3$ , the addition of Sm$_2$O$_3$ increased the
total selectivity by up to 23 %. Furthermore, La$_2$O$_3$ addition was found beneficial with respect to the (thermal) stability of
the catalyst. Dopant content variations uncovered that the catalyst formulation with 20 wt.-% La$_2$O$_3$ represents an optimum
regarding performance and stability.