Zn-doped MnCe catalyst designed and applied for indoor low concentration formaldehyde removal and simultaneous antibacterial

As typical indoor air pollutants, the simultaneous removal of formaldehyde and microorganisms at room temperature was significant to purify indoor environment satisfactorily. Based on the practical problems of room temperature catalytic oxidation, Zn-doped MnCe (MC-Zn) aerogel catalysts were designed with dual functions of catalytic oxidation and bacterial inhibition in this study. It was found that MC aerogel exhibited excellent formaldehyde removal performance, which obtained 97.6% formaldehyde removal efficiency at 24 h. Besides, a small amount of Zn doping had little effect on the Lewis acidic sites and Mn³⁺/Mn on the MC aerogel catalyst surface, and the equivalent formaldehyde removal efficiency was achieved with the increasing specific surface area.The antibacterial tests demonstrated that the Zn-doped catalysts inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus(S. aureus), Bacillus subtilis(B. subtilis) and Escherichia coli(E. coli). When the molar ratio of Mn:Zn:Ce was 5:1:4, the catalyst exhibited the optimal room temperature catalytic oxidation activity and appropriate bacterial inhibition performance. This paper provides a technical reference for the effective treatment of indoor co-contaminated environment.