Alkali-modified non-precious metal 3D-NiCo2O4 nanosheets for efficient formaldehyde oxidation at low temperature

Cost-effective catalysts for volatile organic compound (VOC) oxidation are critical to energy conversion and environmental protection. Herein, we developed new, low-cost and high-performance alkali-promoted 3D-NiCo2O4 nanosheet catalysts for HCHO oxidation at room temperature. Benefiting from the large surface area, high adsorption capacity and surface hydroxyls, the alkali-promoted 3D-NiCo2O4 nanosheet catalysts show substantially high catalytic activities for HCHO oxidation. The alkali-promoted 3D-NiCo2O4 nanosheets yield a remarkable HCHO conversion efficiency of 95.3% at room temperature, which is not achieved by any non-precious metal based catalysts at such low temperature. Additionally, the as-prepared alkali-promoted 3D-NiCo2O4 nanosheets retained excellent catalytic performance after 200 h, which can be applied to practical applications. This work provides a feasible approach to improve the efficiency of metal oxides for HCHO oxidation at low temperature.