(621bi) Preparation, Characterization and Catalytic Performance of Vanadium Oxide Supported on Titania Nanobundle for NH3 Degradation

People spend considerable amount of their time indoor and therefore indoor air quality is an important health issue. Malodor is particularly difficult to treat due to its transient nature and varying olfactory sensitivities. Ammonia resulting from decomposition of organic and biological waste is known to result in headaches, eye and lungs irritations that can lead to long-term health problems. The selective catalytic oxidation (SCO) of NH₃ to N₂ is an attractive approach, however most of the catalysts available require elevated temperatures (> 150°C) and do produce considerable amount of NO_x as byproduct. This work explored vanadia supported on titania nanobundles as a potential room temperature catalyst for NH₃ SCO.  Vanadium is a multi-valence element that allows rapid transitions between different active vanadium oxide phases with transportation of reactive oxygen species. The prepared catalysts were characterized by electron microscopy and their surface composition and chemistry were analyzed by XPS, FTIR and micro-Raman. The catalytic reaction carried out at room temperature under dry and humid (i.e., 100 % R.H.) conditions showed excellent selectivity for N₂ production with no NOx byproduct formation. The catalyst also displayed high conversion rate and was shown to be capable of suppressing NH₃ malodor by maintaining its concentration below olfactory level.