Enhanced Catalytic Degradation of Benzene Series at Low Temperature by the Electro-injection Effect for MnO x /Cu-MOF/CNTs Heterostructure Aerogel Catalysts

BTX (benzene, toluene, and xylene), as representative indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs), poses persistent threats to human health. However, achieving the efficient catalytic degradation of BTX at low temperatures remains a major challenge. In this study, a multilevel three-dimensional (3D) MnOx/Cu-MOF/CNTs conductive aerogel catalyst was constructed, and an electroinjection (EI)-assisted catalytic oxidation strategy was proposed for BTX degradation. When the EI power was set to 1 W, the removal efficiency and yield of o-xylene reached 99.61% and 82.56%, respectively. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further demonstrate that the EI strategy can modulate the charge density around Mn and reduce oxygen vacancy formation energy. Overall, this work provides a new paradigm for overcoming the bottleneck of the low-temperature catalytic degradation of VOCs.