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

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 VOx/CeO2 catalysts with different V/Ce molar ratios were fabricated and adopted for the destruction of1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCE). The V0.05Ce 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 O-2(-)) species mobility. Typical chlorinated byproducts (CHCl3, CCl4, C2HCl3, 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 VOx species with CeO2. The presence of water vapor benefited the activation and deep destruction of 1,2-DCE over V0.05Ce owing to the efficient removal of Cl species from the catalyst surface.

Automated summary

The research focused on developing economical and robust catalysts for the destruction of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs). The hollow nanosphere-like VOx/CeO2 catalysts, particularly the V0.05Ce catalyst, showed superior catalytic activity and selectivity due to the presence of oxygen vacancies and excellent low-temperature redox ability. Moreover, the presence of water vapor facilitated the activation and deep destruction of 1,2-DCE over V0.05Ce catalyst by efficiently removing Cl species from the surface.