High-efficient capture and degradation of formaldehyde based on the electric-field-enhanced catalytic effect

Enhancing the generation of active groups is of great significance for alleviating the catalyst deactivation of formaldehyde (HCHO) by accelerating the decomposition of intermediate products. Herein, an electric-field-enhanced catalytic effect was proposed for the efficient capture and degradation of HCHO base on carbon cloth loaded manganese oxide catalyst (MnO_x-CC). Under the action of electric field, MnO_x can generate more hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and superoxide radicals (•O₂^-), thus accelerating the degradation of HCHO and intermediates at room temperature. After the introduction electric field (∼1 ×10⁴ V/m), •O₂^- and •OH radical on the surface of MnO_x-CC catalyst can be increased by 8 times and 23 times, respectively. At weight hourly space velocity of 300,000 mL/(g_cat h) for ∼15 ppm HCHO, MnO_x-CC-Electric Field catalyst reached the removal efficiency of 99.4%, and the CO₂ conversion efficiency of 81.2%, without decrease significantly within 80 h. Theoretical calculation shows that the electric field can increase the electron state density of Mn atom at the Fermi level and reduce the adsorption energy of HCHO, O₂ and H₂O, thus promoting the generation of active groups and degradation of intermediate products. The electric-field-enhancement catalytic effect provides a new approach for the degradation of Volatile Organic Compounds.