Catalytic Incineration of Acetone on Mesoporous Silica Supported Metal Oxides Prepared by One-Step Aerosol Method

Abstract

Mesoporous silica supported metal oxide catalysts were synthesized by a one-step fast aerosol process based on an evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) method. They were then applied to the catalytic incineration of VOCs with acetone as the target species. The synthesized metal-MSPs (mesoporous silica particles) were characterized by N(2) adsorption-desorption measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) to understand their physical and chemical properties. Tests on various metals of Ce, Mn, Cu, Fe, and Al supported on MSPs over a temperature range of 150-350 degrees C demonstrated that Ce is the best metal for the catalytic incineration of acetone. The Ce-MSPs(10) has a high Ce loading of 9.76 wt %, but its small specific surface area of 615 m(2)/g, poor pore size distribution, and less-ordered pore structure resulted in a relatively lower acetone removal as compared to the Ce-MSPs(25). The Ce-MSPs (25) catalyst appeared to be the best acetone catalytic incineration performance due to the high specific surface area of 951 m(2)/g with highly ordered pore structure as well as optimal Ce metal content of 3.72 wt % so that CeO(2) particles were well dispersed on the porous surfaces. Near complete acetone destruction via Ce-MSPs(25) catalyst was achieved at a temperature of 250 degrees C, acetone inlet concentration of 1000 ppmv and GHSV of 5000 h(-1). The long-term stability test showed that the acetone destruction efficiency can be kept constant during the 96 h test period.