Methane up-carbonizing: A way towards clean hydrogen energy?

[Display omitted] •Bridging the gap between laboratory research and industrial applications.•Up-carbonization of process not only limited to De-carbonization.•Focusing on physico-chemical mechanisms to achieve energy-efficient, low-carbon-emissions, scalable processes.•Discussion on engineering challenges and opportunities for translational research towards commercial applications. A global transition to a hydrogen economy requires widespread adoption of clean hydrogen energy. Methane cracking is one of the most viable technologies for producing clean hydrogen, nearing the ultimate zero-carbon-emissions targets. While major progress has been made in the lab-scale development of high-performance reactors and catalysts for methane pyrolysis, research focusing on industry-relevant scale and process conditions is in its infancy. Herein, recent advances in fundamental and applied research in methane pyrolysis are critically examined, focusing on physico-chemical mechanisms to achieve energy-efficient, low-carbon-emission, scalable processes. The highlighted recent efforts to bridge the gap between laboratory research and industrial applications reveal rapid advances in practical applications based on synergistic chemical engineering, catalysis, and materials science research. Perspectives, challenges, and opportunities for translational research towards commercial applications of methane cracking are discussed aiming at clean hydrogen production.