Templated Synthesis of Cu2S Hollow Structures for Highly Active Ozone Decomposition

Abstract

Nowadays, it is highly desired to develop highly active and humidity-resistive ozone decomposition catalysts to eliminate the ozone contaminant, one of the primary pollutants in the air. In this work, a series of Cu2S hollow structured materials were rapidly synthesized using different structured Cu2O templates. The Cu2S from porous Cu2O showed the highest ozone catalytic decomposition efficiency of >95% to 400 ppm ozone with a weight hourly space velocity of 480,000 cm3·g−1·h−1 in dry air. Importantly, the conversion remained >85% in a high relative humidity of 90%. The mechanism was explored by diffusive reflectance infrared spectroscopy which showed the decomposition intermediate of O22−, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed the dual active site of both Cu and S. The EPR and UPS characterization results also explained the superiority of porous Cu2S catalysts from the material itself. All these results show the effective decomposition of ozone by Cu2S, especially in harsh environments, promising for active ozone elimination.