In this work, a low-cost and environmentally friendly solvothermal route to the synthesis of indium oxide nanorod clusters was described in the presence of sodium chlorate and urea. The morphologies and structures of the as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The results clearly revealed that the as-prepared indium oxide was composed of nanorods with a diameter of about 15 nm. The gas sensing properties of the as-prepared indium oxide samples were tested towards various gases. The indium oxide nanorod cluster based sensor showed high response and good selectivity toward NO₂ at an operating temperature of 150 °C, giving a response of about 41 to 500 ppb.

TiO₂ is a promising material for the renewable energy and pollution control field.

The relative stability and kinetics of CH4 … O2 … MO and the reaction potential energy surface under the transition metal oxide catalysts (RuO/RhO/PdO) during methane oxidation reaction were studied with density functional calculations. The results show that the reaction can be easily carried out under the catalysis of transition metal oxides. The transition barriers and the reaction rate constant all show oscillation modes that are consistent with the increase of atomic number at 298 K. while the calculated reaction energies (Er/kcal mol−¹) are gradually increased. The oxidised dioxide can be treated to form metal and oxygen that can still be used as a catalyst for methane oxidation; the resulting oxygen can continue to be used as an oxidant. We also calculated the rate constant of methane oxidation reaction to give the resulting methanol pathway. The calculated dynamic characterisation shows that the rate constant has a positive temperature dependence. Our calculation show that this reaction is exothermic reaction via the RuO/RhO/PdO catalyst, and the reaction is thermodynamically feasible. This study also provides theoretical reference data for us to identify new catalysts for the catalytic oxidation of methane.

The relative stability, reaction potential energy surface, naturally bonded orbit (NBO) charge analysis, and kinetic properties of triangular transition metal catalysts in methane dehydrogenation reaction were studied by density functional theory calculation. The calculation results indicate that the process of triangular metal adsorption of methane is physical adsorption, and the main products of the reaction are hydrogen and carbon-based materials. This reaction is a multicomponent reaction. NBO charge analysis indicates the feasibility of the catalytic reaction of methane dehydrogenation. We also calculated the rate constant which indicates that the rate constant has a positive temperature dependence. Our calculations show that the reaction is an exothermic reaction catalyzed by triangular transition metal catalyzer.