Our team has published a new study demonstrating a sustainable approach that converts methane into hydrogen-rich syngas and carbon nanotube-based iron nanocomposites in a single plasma-catalytic process. The method achieved over 99% methane conversion while producing syngas containing nearly 80% hydrogen. Congratulations to our PhD student Jafar Fathi!
The material was subsequently tested for the removal of nine potentially toxic metal(loid)s from water. The as-synthesised composite showed exceptional selectivity towards Pb(II), removing more than 96% within 24 hours. After thermal activation, the material exhibited enhanced long-term performance, achieving approximately 55% removal of Cr(VI) and Cu(II), and around 30% removal of Cd(II) and As(V) after 48 days. In addition, thermal treatment eliminated residual volatile organic compounds. These findings highlight the potential of methane valorisation for the simultaneous production of clean-energy carriers and advanced materials for sustainable water treatment.
Fathi J., Böserle Hudcová B., Mašláni A., Hlína M., Mušálek R., Lukáč F., Pilnaj D., Lojka M., Jankovský O., Pohořelý M., Aubrechtová Dragounová K., Komárek M., 2026. Plasma-catalytic methane pyrolysis for hydrogen production and synthesis of CNTs-nZVI nanocomposite for water remediation. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 14(5), 124232. DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2026.124232
Read the paper here.