It was reported that an ethanol production rate of 106 µmol g
−1 h
−1 was achieved with
in-situ generated H
2O
2 on Cu-0.5/PCN photocatalyst (
Figs. 4a-c) [
97]. A negligible H
2O
2 production was obtained on Cu-0.5/PCN compared with that of PCN, while a significant increase of ethanol yield was achieved over the Cu-0.5/PCN. The authors claimed that the Cu species not only decomposed the
in-situ generated H
2O
2 to form
•OH, but also acted as the active sites for CH
4 adsorption and activation, which avoided the deep mineralization and further enhanced the photocatalytic anaerobic methane conversion. H
2O was also claimed to be activated to
•OH radicals
via H
2O
2 (H
2O → H
2O
2 →
•OH) for CH
4 activation on PCN supported W single-atom photocatalyst (W-SA-PCN), SrTiO
3 supported Co particle (Co-SrTiO
3) [
98,
99]. The W
δ+ was claimed to be active sites for CH
4 activation and
•OH production. The
in-situ IR results indicated the benefit of W-SA PCN for CH
4 adsorption. The interfacial sites between Co particles and SrTiO
3 are reported for
in-situ •OH generation and CH
4 adsorption, which attributed to enhanced CH
3OH production. Compared with the raw SrTiO
3, 3.6-Co-SrTiO
3 exhibited superior ability of CH
4 adsorption and activation according to the
in-situ DRIFT results. Moreover, according to the experiments they carried out using isotopically labeled reactants (D
2O, H
218O, or CD
4), it was claimed that the O in the hydroxyl group of the generated CH
3OH originates from water, whereas H
2O and CH
4 contribute 90% and 10% to the H in the hydroxyl group of the generated CH
3OH, respectively. In another system, H
2O was reported to be activated to
•OOH radicals
via H
2O
2 (H
2O → H
2O
2 →
•OOH) for CH
4 conversion on Pd modified MoO
3 (Pd-MoO
3) when the reaction temperature was 15 ℃ [
100]. The proposed mechanism indicated that PdO species on Pd-MoO
3 played an essential role in the suppression of overoxidation. From the corresponding
1H NMR spectrum of the isotope labeling experiments, they claimed that the CH
3OH product came from CH
4 oxidation. The ceria nanoparticles with oxygen vacancies was reported to evoke photocatalytic methane conversion to C2 liquid oxygenates (
Fig. 4d) [
101]. Compare with the CeO
2-raw, a higher ethanol production was achieved over CeO
2-x with oxygen vacancies. They proposed that the oxygen vacancies induced H
2O oxidation to
•OH (H
2O →
•OH) and further enhanced the photocatalytic activity. RuO
x decorated ZnO/CeO
2 nanorods (RuO
x/ZnO/CeO
2) [
102], Co
3O
4 nanoparticles decorated ZnO (Co
3O
4/ZnO) [
103], in-plane Z-scheme hetero-ZnO/Fe
2O
3 [
104] and Bi
2O
3 [
105] were developed for selectively conversion of CH
4 to CH
3OH. For these systems, the selected H
2O oxidant was claimed to be oxidized to
•OH radicals (H
2O →
•OH) for CH
4 conversion. The RuOx species was claimed to be a beneficial site for
•OH generation from H
2O oxidation. It is proposed that Co
3O
4 plays as the active sites of stabilization of
•CH
3 adsorption and promotion of CH
3OH desorption to suppress overoxidation. The oxygen vacancy in the Bi
2O
3 surface was claimed to be the active site for the adsorption and activation of oxygen. Moreover, the oxygen vacancy could also enhance the adsorption and fixation of CH
4. Generally,
•OH generation from H
2O oxidation is responsible for CH
4 activation and conversion. Meanwhile, the
in-situ generated H
2O
2 from water oxidation reaction have shown potential for efficient PPOMO. Element doping, crystal plane engineering, cocatalyst modification, and heterojunction construction presents as effective strategies for H
2O activation. H
2O is generally considered as a mild and clean oxidant for PPOMO, while endeavors are highly needed to enhance activity and sustainability.