A phosphate-modified
CeO2 nanosheet as a promising catalyst
presenting high activity, durability, and selectivity for catalytic
oxidation of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) was used
to investigate mechanisms of dichloromethane (DCM) oxidation and monochloromethane
(MCM) formation by comparison with Al2O3-based
catalysts, and CeO2-based catalysts showed a higher activity
for DCM oxidation and lower selectivity for MCM. A series of well-designed
experiments including various isotopic experiments revealed that an
acid–base pair catalysis was involved, that is, DCM mainly
dissociated on Lewis acid sites and then dehydrochlorinated through
hydroxyl groups/Brønsted acid sites, while the basicity was intrinsic
to the generation of MCM via a hydride transfer reaction
between DCM activated on basic sites and DCM dissociated on Lewis
acid sites. Moreover, the superior redox ability could suppress the
formation of MCM by a rapid catalytic oxidation but prompt the possible
formation of Cl2 and polychlorinated byproducts.