Progress in Degradation of Volatile Organic Compounds by Catalytic Oxidation: a Review Based on the Kinds of Active Components of Catalysts

Toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere are considered as hazardous substances that can pose risks to human health and the environment. There is a pressing need to develop efficient processes for reducing their emissions. Among the well-established destruction technologies such as adsorption and biological degradation, oxidation has been reported to be a promising method for VOCs disposal due to its simplicity, high efficiency, and environmental friendliness. For large-scale implementations of catalytic combustion, stable and efficient catalysts are required. In this review, some recent advances in the catalytic oxidation of several representative VOC molecules are discussed and summarized. The discussion is partitioned into two basic categories on the basis of different kinds of active components in catalysts: noble metal-based catalysts and non-noble metal-based catalysts. We generalize typical metals widely used as catalysts for VOCs catalytic oxidation and discuss the effects of some key influential factors (kind of catalyst support, catalyst preparation, metal particle size, metal ratio, reaction atmosphere, electronic structure of active metal) on the VOCs removal performance. Specific catalytic oxidation mechanisms are also summarized. Finally, we bring forward future research directions for rationally designing catalysts for VOCs catalytic oxidation removal in industrial applications.