Efficient catalyst for VOCs obtained by loading active species on metal-doped cordierite

Abstract

The carrier plays a critical role in dispersing the active species and enhancing their catalytic performances. Cordierite is one of the most widely adopted industrial catalyst carriers. This work investigated the possibility of increasing catalytic performance of MnCu-loaded cordierite by doping transition metals during cordierite production. In brief, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr, Cd, and Ni were doped into cordierites before MnCu was loaded onto the cordierite. The obtained catalysts were compared in catalytic oxidization of toluene and various characterizations. As a result, Cu doping obviously created lattice distortion of the cordierite, which promoted preferential growth of (−202) facet in CuO phase and (111) facet in Cu2O phase after loading the active species. The preferential growth resulted in a bigger concentration of lattice oxygen as well as more balanced distributions of Cu+/Cu2+ and Mn3+/Mn4+. All these properties helped to decompose toluene by the lattice oxygen, which was subsequently replenished by gaseous O2. Therefore, doping-free cordierite only reached a toluene removal of 35.2 % at 270 °C, while metal-doped one attained a removal close to 100 %. The main result of this work is in favor of producing a more effective industry catalyst carrier.