Performance and Mechanism of Co and Mn Loaded on Fe-Metal-Organic Framework Catalysts with Different Morphologies for Simultaneous Degradation of Acetone and NO by Photothermal Coupling

Abstract

VOCs can be used instead of ammonia as a reducing agent to remove NO, achieving the effect of removing VOCs and NO simultaneously. Due to the high energy consumption and low photocatalytic efficiency required for conventional thermocatalytic purification, photothermal coupled catalytic purification can integrate the advantages of photocatalysis and thermocatalysis in order to achieve the effect of pollutants being treated efficiently with a low energy consumption. In this study, samples loaded with Co and Mn catalysts were prepared using the hydrothermal method on Fe-MOF with various morphologies. The catalytic performance of each catalyst was analyzed by studying the effects of their physicochemical properties through various characterizations, including XRD, SEM, BET, XPS, H2-TPR, TEM and O2-TPD. The characterization results demonstrated that the specific surface area, pore volume, high valence Co and Mn atoms, surface adsorbed oxygen and the abundance of oxygen lattice defects in the catalysts were the most critical factors affecting the performance of the catalysts. Based on the results of the performance tests, the catalysts prepared with an octahedral-shaped Fe-MOF loaded with Co and Mn showed a better performance than those loaded with Co and Mn on a rod-shaped Fe-MOF. The conversions of acetone and NO reached 50% and 64%, respectively, at 240 °C. The results showed that the catalysts were capable of removing acetone and NO at the same time. Compared with the pure Fe-MOF without Co and Mn, the loaded catalysts showed a significantly higher ability to remove acetone and NO simultaneously under the combination of various factors. The key reaction steps for the catalytic conversion of acetone and NO on the catalyst surface were investigated according to the Mars–van Krevelen (MvK) mechanism, and a possible mechanism was proposed. This study presents a new idea for the simultaneous removal of acetone and NOx by photothermal coupling.