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An industrial process to convert methane directly into methanol at mild conditions could take advantage of the vast new sources of available natural gas produced through hydraulic fracturing.
In an effort at meeting that goal, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have combined biology with 3D printing to create a reactor that can continuously produce methanol from methane at room temperature and pressure. They made the reactor by printing a polymer embedded with enzymes extracted from methane-eating bacteria.
"Remarkably, the enzymes retain up to 100% activity in the polymer," says Sarah Baker, a chemist at LLNL. "The printed enzyme-embedded polymer should be useful in a wide range of applications, especially those involving gas-liquid reactions."
Converting methane to high-value chemicals is not an easy endeavor. It requires the activation of the C-H bond, which is very strong. In addition, the products formed from...