Effect of redox state of Ag on indoor formaldehyde degradation over Ag/TiO2 catalyst at room temperature

Ag/TiO2 catalysts were prepared via in-situ synthesis and impregnation methods. The effect of redox state of Ag species on catalytic activity of Ag/TiO2 catalysts was studied. The Ag-i-300 catalyst with partially oxidized state of Ag species shows superior catalytic activity, keeping HCHO removal efficiency at an extraordinary level of 100% during the 200 min's reaction. The Ag/TiO2 catalysts were characterized by XPS, UV–Vis, BET, XRD, TEM, and in-situ DRIFTS technologies. XPS and TEM results exhibit that the partially oxidized state of Agδ+ (0 < δ < 1) and high dispersion of Ag species are beneficial for the oxidation of HCHO over Ag/TiO2 catalysts. According to the above results, a reaction pathway for HCHO oxidation over Ag-i-300 catalyst was also proposed.