Abatement of various types of VOCs by adsorption/catalytic oxidation: A review

Abstract Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been recognized as one of the major environment hazards in air that seriously harm both the environment and human health. Adsorptive removal and catalytic oxidation are two potential technologies for the effective removal of VOCs. The development of efficient adsorbents and catalysts for VOCs with varied nature are critical. In this review, the types of typical VOCs and their properties are summarized. Research progresses on the development of adsorbents and catalysts for different types of typical VOCs removal are overviewed and compared in parallel. Possible adsorption/catalytic oxidation mechanisms are introduced. The barriers, i.e. competitive adsorption of water vapor in adsorptive removal of VOCs, CO byproduct, water vapor and coking suppressions in catalytic oxidation of VOCs are summarized. The perspectives on the potential future directions of the adsorptive removal and catalytic oxidation of VOCs are given.