Shale gas revolution: Catalytic conversion of C1-C3 light alkanes to value-added chemicals

Shale gas is the main source and reservoir of natural gas, and contains a small fraction of ethane and propane. Along with the increasing exploitation scale, shale gas has the potential to bring about an energy revolution for the chemical industry. This paper describes the recent development for catalytic conversion of C-1-C-3 light alkanes (i.e., methane, ethane, and propane) to value-added chemicals, which involves discussions about catalyst design based on the structure-performance relationship, mechanistic analysis of reaction pathway, reactor design, and the reaction-diffusion relationship during catalytic conversion of C-1-C-3 light alkanes. Furthermore, this paper puts forward perspectives on the synthesis of catalytic materials and relevant state-of-the-art techniques.