Research progress of metal oxides in propane catalytic combustion

Propane is a typical light alkane in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and its removal is one of the challenges in VOCs pollution control. The catalytic combustion (or catalytic oxidation) is an efficient strategy for propane removal. The catalyst is crucial for the application and promotion of catalytic combustion technology. This review summarizes the recent advances regarding various metal oxide catalysts for propane catalytic combustion. It focuses on summarizing and discussing the preparation methods, the strategies for enhancing catalytic performance, the reaction mechanisms, transformation pathways, and the approaches to improve the stability, especially the methods for improving the water and sulfur resistance of catalysts. Meanwhile, we summarize and compare the differences in intrinsic catalytic activity and the superiority and deficiency in catalytic application of different metal oxide catalysts, and demonstrates their structure-activity relationships in propane catalytic combustion. Finally, the prospective problems and challenges of propane catalytic combustion technology is presented, with the suggestion that the development of highly stable catalysts suitable for treating mixed VOCs exhaust gases under complex working conditions remains a priority in future research.