Rationally Engineering a CuO/Pd@SiO2 Core–Shell Catalyst with Isolated Bifunctional Pd and Cu Active Sites for n-Butylamine Controllable Decomposition

Volatile organic amines are a category of typical volatile organic compounds (VOCs) extensively presented in industrial exhausts causing serious harm to the atmospheric environment and human health. Monometallic Pd and Cu-based catalysts are commonly adopted for catalytic destruction of hazardous organic amines, but their applications are greatly limited by the inevitable production of toxic amide and NOx byproducts and inferior low-temperature activity. Here, a CuO/Pd@SiO2 core–shell-structured catalyst with diverse functionalized active sites was creatively developed, which realized the total decomposition of n-butylamine at 260 °C with a CO2 yield and N2 selectivity reaching up to 100% and 98.3%, respectively (obviously better than those of Pd@SiO2 and CuO/SiO2), owing to the synergy of isolated Pd and Cu sites in independent mineralization of n-butylamine and generation of N2, respectively. The formation of amide and short-chain aliphatic hydrocarbon intermediates via C–C bond cleavage tended to occur over Pd sites, while the C–N bond was prone to breakage over Cu sites, generating NH2· species and long free-N chain intermediates at low temperatures, avoiding the production of hazardous amide and NOx. The SiO2 channel collapse and H+ site production resulted in the formation of N2O via suppressing NH2· diffusion. This work provides critical guidance for a rational fabrication of catalysts with high activity and N2 selectivity for environmentally friendly destruction of nitrogen-containing VOCs.