Novel mesoporous chromium oxide for VOCs elimination

A 3D mesoporous chromium oxide prepared by a neutral templating route showed exceptionally high capacity for the elimination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The material contains chromium species with mixed oxidation states as observed by XPS analysis. Although the 3D mesoporous chromium oxide had ∼0.1 times the surface area than that of mesoporous silica, the chromium oxide showed much better toluene removal ability. At ambient conditions, the material acts as a selective sorbent for VOCs, while at higher reaction temperature it can be an effective and selective deep oxidation catalyst for VOCs.