Chlorine-Resistant Hollow Nanosphere-Like VO_x/CeO₂ Catalysts for Highly Selective and Stable Destruction of 1,2-Dichloroethane: Byproduct Inhibition and Reaction Mechanism

• Main Authors: Yu Huang, Shiyue Fang, Mingjiao Tian, Zeyu Jiang, Yani Wu, Chi He
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
• Series: Processes
• Subjects: catalytic destruction; 1,2–dichloroethane; VO_x/CeO₂; chlorinated byproduct inhibition; reaction mechanism
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/1/119

Developing economical and robust catalysts for the highly selective and stable destruction of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) is a great challenge. Here, hollow nanosphere-like VO_x/CeO₂ catalysts with different V/Ce molar ratios were fabricated and adopted for the destruction of1,2–dichloroethane (1,2–DCE). The V_0.05Ce catalyst possessed superior catalytic activity, reaction selectivity, and chlorine resistance owing to a large number of oxygen vacancies, excellent low-temperature redox ability, and chemically adsorbed oxygen (O⁻ and O₂⁻) species mobility. Typical chlorinated byproducts (CHCl₃, CCl₄, C₂HCl_3, and C₂H₃Cl₃) derived from the cleavage of C–Cl and C–C bonds of 1,2–DCE were detected, which could be effectively inhibited by the abundant acid sites and the strong interactions of VO_x species with CeO₂. The presence of water vapor benefited the activation and deep destruction of 1,2–DCE over V_0.05Ce owing to the efficient removal of Cl species from the catalyst surface.