The abatement of malodor is an important topic. Malodor is not only a nuisance, but also a health risk under prolonged exposure. It causes discomfort and can trigger headaches and asthma. Ammonia and organic amines are main source of malodor in indoor air. They are emitted from the decompositions of food, garbage and body wastes and are present in many toiletry and cosmetic products. They are responsible for the malodor in toilet, garbage bin, refuse station, wet market and slaughterhouse. They are emitted in quantities at chemical and petrochemical plants, sewage treatment plants and are generated in most agricultural activities including farming and animal husbandry....[ Read more ]

The abatement of malodor is an important topic. Malodor is not only a nuisance, but also a health risk under prolonged exposure. It causes discomfort and can trigger headaches and asthma. Ammonia and organic amines are main source of malodor in indoor air. They are emitted from the decompositions of food, garbage and body wastes and are present in many toiletry and cosmetic products. They are responsible for the malodor in toilet, garbage bin, refuse station, wet market and slaughterhouse. They are emitted in quantities at chemical and petrochemical plants, sewage treatment plants and are generated in most agricultural activities including farming and animal husbandry.

This work presents a novel catalyst for low temperature selective catalytic oxidation (SCO) of ammonia in air into nitrogen and water with no concomitant production of nitrous oxide and nitric oxide byproducts. Comparisons made with existing SCO catalysts showed that the new nanostructured catalyst display better reaction activity and selectivity at a lower temperature. The effects of catalyst loading, catalyst support and pretreatment conditions on physicochemical properties of the catalysts were investigated using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N₂ physisorption, temperature programmed reduction and Micro-Raman spectroscopy. Reaction studies were carried out for ammonia and diethylamine. The reaction performance including conversion, selectivity, deactivation and regeneration, were studied for the different catalysts. The use of promoters was shown to improve both the reaction rate and catalyst activity.