Oxidation of volatile organic compounds by highly efficient metal zeolite catalysts

Abstract

The presence of two metals (M1M2) in a zeolite structure enhances the degradation of pollutants in liquid or gas phase comparing to monometallic catalysts. In this work, the complete oxidation of ethyl acetate into CO2 was achieved by metal catalysts based on NaY zeolite prepared by the ion-exchange method. The metal zeolite catalysts were optimized by used several parameters: (i) the presence of a second metal in M1M2 catalysts; (ii) the presence or not of a noble metal in the pair CuM2 (M2=Pd, Zn or Ag); (iii) the order of introduction of the metals in M1M2 catalysts (CuPd or PdCu); (iv) particle size of NaY and NaYnano; and (v) the effect of simultaneously adding metal species (Cu and Pd). M1M2 catalysts presented the best results compared to the monometallic catalysts and the presence of a noble metal in M1M2 catalysts enhanced their acivity. Among the metal phases studied, the catalyst (CuPd)0.01-Y was shown to be the most efficient for this application.