Non-Thermal Plasma-Modified Ru-Sn-Ti Catalyst for Chlorinated Volatile Organic Compound Degradation

Yujie Fu,Yu Zhang,You Zhang,Zhong Zheng,Xiao Zhang,Shaojun Liu,Xiang Gao,Qi Xin,Chenghang Zheng,Yang Yang

doi:10.3390/catal10121456

Abstract

Chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) are vital environmental concerns due to their low biodegradability and long-term persistence. Catalytic combustion technology is one of the more commonly used technologies for the treatment of CVOCs. Catalysts with high low-temperature activity, superior selectivity of non-toxic products, and resistance to chlorine poisoning are desirable. Here we adopted a plasma treatment method to synthesize a tin-doped titania loaded with ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) catalyst, possessing enhanced activity (T90%, the temperature at which 90% of dichloromethane (DCM) is decomposed, is 262 °C) compared to the catalyst prepared by the conventional calcination method. As revealed by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction, the high surface area of the tin-doped titania catalyst and the enhanced dispersion and surface oxidation of RuO2 induced by plasma treatment were found to be the main factors determining excellent catalytic activities.

Highlights

Chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs), such as dichloromethane (DCM), chlorobenzene (CB) and dichloroethylene (DCE), are considered to be extremely toxic pollutants due to their high carcinogenicity, low biodegradability, and long-term persistence [1,2,3,4]
RuO2 /Sn0.2 Ti0.8 O2 (RST)-P had a greater oxidation activity in low temperature, and its DCM conversion rate increased from 25.9% to 48.1% at 200 ◦ C
These results indicated that air–plasma treatment is beneficial for the enhancement of catalytic activity

Summary

Introduction

Chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs), such as dichloromethane (DCM), chlorobenzene (CB) and dichloroethylene (DCE), are considered to be extremely toxic pollutants due to their high carcinogenicity, low biodegradability, and long-term persistence [1,2,3,4]. Catalytic combustion is considered to be a promising technique due to its high activity, high selectivity, good stability, and low energy consumption. Transition metal oxides loaded with noble metal oxides have gained wide attention due to their high catalytic activities, superb resistance against chlorine-poisoning, and strong stability [14,15,16]. The catalysts synthesized by the conventional calcination method were reported to lack oxidation activity in low temperatures. It has been reported that the particle size and Catalysts 2020, 10, 1456; doi:10.3390/catal10121456 www.mdpi.com/journal/catalysts

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion