Catalytic gasification work has been completed and no other work is planned in the general area of catalytic gasification of coals and chars has operated without a post-doctoral fellow because of budget limitations during the first two quarters of FY1994. Dr. S. Sundararajan joined the group in April 1994 and will be assigned to the project throughout the remaining of the fiscal year. Results published by Hamakawa, et al. in The Journal of the Electrochemical Society have confirmed the concept of methane coupling via a membrane reactor. These findings confirm our previous conclusion that thinner membranes and increased surface activity for C-H bond activation at low temperatures are required in order to reach commercially attractive rates of reaction. The initial analysis of a theoretical model comparing the membrane and cyclic processes has been completed. The results indicate that perovskite membranes on the order of 50 microns will be needed for the membrane operation to be superior to a cyclic one. Two techniques, laser ablation and spin-coating/sol-gel chemistry are being tried to prepare the thin membranes described above. Studies of the magnetochemical properties of the calcium-nickel-potassium oxide powdered catalysts have been concluded and a manuscript describing the work has been completed. Synchrotron x-ray fluorescence microprobe data for calcium-nickel-potassium films have been analyzed and an abstract of the results has been submitted for presentation at the Fall Meeting of the Materials Research Society. Initial films of strontium-zirconium oxide, using yttria-stabilized zirconia as a buffer layer, have been fabricated using pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction data have been obtained for several of the strontium-zirconium-yttrium oxide films.

Research continued on the study of catalysts and membrane materials involved in the oxidative coupling of methane and coal gasification processes. Membranes studied and fabricated included Sr-Zr-Y-O, Sr-Zr-Y, and Sr-Ce-Y-O systems.

This report describes research on the oxidative coupling of methane and catalysts involved in coal gasification. Topics include methane pyrolysis and catalysts, and magnetic properties of the coal gasification catalyst Ca-Ni-K-O system.

Work continued on the catalytic conversion of methane to produce C2, C3, and C4 hydrocarbons. Progress is reported on the catalytic effects of Lithium Oxide and Magnesium Oxide catalysts.