Abstract
At present, it is urgent to synthesize highly active ozone decomposition catalysts to cope with the ever-increasing ozone concentration in the atmosphere. In this study, a highly porous Cu2O catalyst was prepared by using combined surfactants of triblock copolymer P123 and n-butanol through a simple solution reduction method by ascorbic acid. Transmittance electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and N2 adsorption–desorption characterizations verify the highly porous structure with a relatively high surface area of 79.5 m2·g−1 and a small crystallite size of 2.7 nm. The highly porous Cu2O shows 90% ozone conversion activity in harsh conditions, such as a high space velocity of 980,000 cm3·g−1·h−1, or a high relative humidity of 90% etc., which is not only attributable to the high surface area but also to the high concentration of surface oxygen vacancy. The results show the promising prospect of the easily synthesized, highly porous Cu2O for effective ozone decomposition applications.
Highlights
Though the ozone is beneficial in the stratosphere as it protects organisms from the damage of ultraviolet radiation, on the earth’s surface it is one of the main pollutants of the atmosphere, enhancing photochemical smog and causing respiratory diseases [1,2,3]
Oxygen vacancies on metal oxides are proposed as the main active sites for ozone adsorption and decomposition [7], which is verified by He et al [8,9]
The Na-OMS-2 catalyst synthesized by this method exhibited an ozone conversion of 92.5% at 25 ◦C after a reaction for 6 h under an initial ozone concentration of 45 ppm, a relative humidity of 30%, and a space velocity of 660,000 h−1 [10]
Summary
Though the ozone is beneficial in the stratosphere as it protects organisms from the damage of ultraviolet radiation, on the earth’s surface it is one of the main pollutants of the atmosphere, enhancing photochemical smog and causing respiratory diseases [1,2,3]. In this series of reactions, the last step (where O22− releases electrons and desorbs them from the surface) is relatively difficult, so its rate determines the rate of the whole series [6] In this context, oxygen vacancies on metal oxides are proposed as the main active sites for ozone adsorption and decomposition [7], which is verified by He et al [8,9]. N-butanol itself is not an effective surfactant without P123, as the obtained Cu2O showed a similar morphology and surface area to Na, as shown in Figures S1 and S2 and. N-butanol itself is not an effective surfactant without P123, as the obtained Cu2O showed a similar morphology and surface area to Na, as shown in Figures S1 and S2 and Table 1. These results show the potency of this highly porous Cu2O for highly effective O3 decomposition applications
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