Engineering surface lattice hydroxyl groups toward highly efficient photocatalytic methane coupling.

Nb 3 O 7 (OH) containing abundant surface lattice hydroxyl groups, combining with loaded Au nanoparticles as the cocatalyst, was employed as a photocatalyst enabling highly efficient photocatalytic CH 4 coupling to C 2 H 6 under mild conditions. In situ spectroscopy technique revealed that the surface lattice hydroxyl groups play a vital role in promoting the activation of CH 4 to produce the methoxy intermediates, contributing to significantly enhanced catalytic performance for CH 4 conversion.