Novel Synthesis of a High-Performance Pt/ZnO/SiC Filter for the Oxidation of Toluene

In this work, a novel Pt/ZnO/SiC filter was successfully prepared by first coating ZnO nanoparticles on a silicon carbide filter by a sol-gel process and then loading Pt nanoparticles on the ZnO layer through impregnation. The microstructure, crystal morphology, composition and elemental valence of the prepared filter were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was found that the ZnO coating layer improved the dispersity of the Pt nanoparticles and significantly enhanced the catalytic performance. Toluene was used as a model volatile organic compound and reached complete conversion of up to 100% over the porous tubular Pt/ZnO/SiC material at a filtration velocity of 0.72 m/min within 240 h at 210 °C. The synthetic ceramic filter presented a good capacity for the catalytic oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and accordingly, a simple approach is suggested here for preparing this catalyst on a support to increase the catalytic efficiency.