Construction of Superhydrophobic Ru/TiCeO_x Catalysts for the Enhanced Water Resistance of o-Dichlorobenzene Catalytic Combustion

In this paper, a simple method to enhance the H2O resistance of Ru/TiCeOx catalysts for o-DCB catalytic combustion by constructing superhydrophobic coating of phenyltriethoxysilane (PhTES) was proposed. The effect of PhTES content on the pore structure, specific surface area, H2O resistance, contact angle (CA) value, and catalytic activity of the catalyst was studied. When water was added, the pristine Ru/TiCeOx catalytic activity decreased by about 26%, while the Ru/TiCeOx-16Ph activity hardly decreased. According to the analysis results of XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and CA, PhTES was closely coated on the surface of Ru/TiCeOx to produce a more hydrophobic surface. The Ru/TiCeOx-16Ph catalyst had strong hydrophobicity, and the contact angle was 159.8°, which not only significantly enhanced the water resistance and self-cleaning activity but also showed a good elimination temperature (T90 = 341 °C) for the o-DCB. The enhanced water resistance of Ru/TiCeOx-XPh catalysts resulted from the reduction of the active centers consumed (water occupying oxygen vacancy sites). The reaction mechanism of the Ru/TiCeOx-16Ph catalyst based on surface oxygen species and the Deacon reaction was proposed. This method provided new idea for the design of a new water-resistant composite catalyst and promoted the practical application of the composite catalyst in the catalytic oxidation of o-DCB.