Engineering surface lattice hydroxyl groups toward highly efficient photocatalytic methane coupling

Nb₃O₇(OH) containing abundant surface lattice hydroxyl groups, combining with loaded Au nanoparticles as the cocatalyst, was employed as a photocatalyst enabling highly efficient photocatalytic CH₄ coupling to C₂H₆ under mild conditions. In situ spectroscopy technique revealed that the surface lattice hydroxyl groups play a vital role in promoting the activation of CH₄ to produce the methoxy intermediates, contributing to significantly enhanced catalytic performance for CH₄ conversion.