Plasma-induced methane-catalyzed zero-carbon cracking for high selectivity of hydrogen and directional construction of carbon nanotubes

JP Chen and DD Feng and SZ Wang and XW Zhang and ZY Cheng and WD Zhang and YJ Zhao and SZ Sun, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY, 184, 151942 (2025).

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.151942

Plasma-enhanced methane cracking utilizes the high energy density to selectively produce high-purity hydrogen and solid carbon without carbon oxide formation. Stable and efficient conversion of natural gas is achieved under mild conditions, which contributes to mitigating fossil energy supply constraints. Plasma was utilized during both catalyst synthesis and catalytic cracking stages. The activity and stability patterns of the catalysts were systematically characterized, while LAMMPS simulations provided atomic-level insights into metal cluster evolution. Conventional thermal and plasma-assisted catalytic cracking were performed at 150 degrees C, 300 degrees C, and 450 degrees C. Results show that plasma enhances methane conversion to 48.45 %, markedly intensifying cracking, hydrogen selectivity of 92.15 % confirms the radical-free combination cracking mechanism. The modified catalyst demonstrates more uniform dispersion and agglomerate size (avg. 33.25 nm), thereby enhancing reaction efficiency. Resulting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) showed over 20 % predominance in specific diameters, along with improved uniformity in both size and morphology. Plasma-synthesized CNTs often contain structural defects, mainly due to synergistic effects from high-density electron micro-localization, corroborates plasma's role in etching-mediated diameter regulation (domain size: 9.69 nm). Efficient co-production of hydrogen and carbon nanotubes is achieved, while proposes an integrated system that combines gas-phase catalysis, exhaust adsorption, and energy storage.

Return to Publications page