Elimination of formaldehyde over Cu-Al_2O_3 catalyst at room temperature

Catalytic elimination of formaldehyde(HCHO) was investigated over Cu-Al_2O_3 catalyst at room temperature. The results indicated that no oxidation of HCHO into CO_2 occurs at room temperature, but the adsorption of HCHO occurs on the catalyst surface. With the increase of gas hourly space velocity(GHSV) and inlet HCHO concentration, the time to reach saturation was shortened proportionally. The results of the in situ DRIFTS, Density functional theory calculations and temperature programmed desorption(TPD) showed that HCHO was completely oxidized into HCOOH over Cu-Al_2O_3 at room temperature. With increasing the temperature in a flow of helium, HCOOH was completely decomposed into CO_2 over the catalyst surface, and the deactivated Cu-Al_2O_3 is regenerated at the same time. In addition, although Cu had no obvious influence on the adsorption of HCHO on Al_2O_3, Cu dramatically lowered the decomposition temperature of HCOOH into CO_2. It was shown that Cu-Al_2O_3 catalyst had a good ability for the removal of HCHO, and appeared to be promising for its application in destroying HCHO at room temperature.