Direct conversion of methane to methanol has been a long-sought objective. Partial oxidation by thermal catalysis is possible but suffers from a rapid loss in methanol selectivity with increasing methane conversion. More recently, the electrochemical oxidation of methane, using water, rather than oxygen, as the oxidizing agent has been considered in both aqueous electrolyte systems and membrane–electrode assemblies (MEAs). While promising results have been demonstrated using MEAs, the absence of key metrics of system performance make it hard to compare and contrast the results of different investigators. This Perspective examines why MEAs are well-suited for the electrochemical oxidation of methane, defines the metrics for assessing MEA performance, and reviews the progress in the field. An analysis of the challenges to finding suitable electrocatalysts is included with the aim of guiding the search for electrocatalysts that would be both active and selective for the conversion of methane to methanol.

中文翻译：

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膜电极组件中甲烷电化学氧化为甲醇的观点。

将甲烷直接转化为甲醇是一个长期的目标。通过热催化的部分氧化是可能的，但是随着甲烷转化率的提高，甲醇选择性迅速丧失。最近，在水电解质系统和膜电极组件（MEAs）中都考虑了使用水而不是氧气作为氧化剂对甲烷进行电化学氧化。尽管使用多边环境协定已显示出令人鼓舞的结果，但由于缺乏系统性能的关键指标，因此很难比较和对比不同研究者的结果。本《观点》探讨了为什么MEAs非常适合甲烷的电化学氧化，定义了评估MEA性能的指标，并回顾了该领域的进展。