Fig. 1: Schematic illustration of reaction pathways of n-alkane hydrogenolysis and the strategies to suppress methane generation. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Schematic illustration of reaction pathways of n-alkane hydrogenolysis and the strategies to suppress methane generation.

From: Polyethylene hydrogenolysis by dilute RuPt alloy to achieve H2-pressure-independent low methane selectivity

Fig. 1

The hydrogenolysis consists of a series of elementary steps (step 1.1–step 1.8), including H2 dissociation (step 1.1), alkane adsorption (step 1.2) and dehydrogenation (step 1.3), the 1st C–C bond cleavage to form hydrocarbon fragments (step 1.4), the hydrogenation and desorption of these fragments to form n-alkanes (step 1.5). After step 1.4, an alternative reaction pathway could occur through the consecutive dehydrogenation of the hydrocarbon fragments (step 1.6), the 2nd C–C bond cleavage (step 1.7), and the hydrogenation of methyl group (step 1.8).

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