Total oxidation of nitrogen-containing organic compounds to N2, CO2 and H2O Original Research Article

The catalytic properties of bulk V2O5, CuO-Cr2O3 mixed oxide, and these oxides supported on γ-Al2O3, i.e. V2O5/γ-Al2O3, Cu-Cr-O/γ-Al2O3 were studied in total oxidation of nitromethane, ethylenediamine (EDA) and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) in air. The catalytic behaviour of studied catalysts was compared with an industrial catalyst. The CO2, CO, H2O, N2, N2O, NO and NO2 were found as the products of reaction. The composition of the reaction products strongly depended on the type of the catalyst. It was found that Cu-Cr-O/γ-Al2O3 catalyst oxidized the organic part of studied compounds to CO2 and H2O but a lot of NOx was observed in the reaction products. V2O5/γ-Al2O3 had a lower ability for total oxidation of organic compounds to CO2. The CO was observed in products of DMF and EDA oxidation over V2O5/γ-Al2O3 but selectivity to N2 was near 100% in all cases. IR spectra of adsorbed compounds showed that differences in catalytic properties among studied systems were probably connected with a specific adsorption of a given organic compound on the surface of the catalysts.