The catalytic combustion of VOCs over copper catalysts supported on cerium-modified and zirconium-pillared montmorillonite

A series of CuO supported on cerium-modified and zirconium-pillared montmorillonite (CuO/CZM) was synthesized. Here, the temperatures for total oxidation of acetone, ethyl acetate and toluene over CuO/CZM were at 230, 250 and 300 °C. The surface properties of CuO/CZM catalysts were investigated by XRD, BET, TEM, AFM, and TPR techniques. The interlayer space was enlarged and the surface area increased after montmorillonite (MMT) was pillared by zirconium and modified by cerium. The new support seems to play an important role in dispersing CuO. The good catalytic performance and reasonable cost, when comparing with noble metal type catalysts, make CuO/CZM catalysts a promising candidate for industrial processing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) elimination.