How does copper oxide catalyst help environmental protection? Revealing the core technology in exhaust gas purification, wastewater treatment and carbon neutrality

1. Copper oxide catalyst: an "all-round player" in the field of environmental protection
Copper oxide (CuO) is a black metal oxide. With its stable chemical properties and high catalytic activity, it has become a "star material" for environmental protection. Its core advantages are:
High-efficiency catalysis: accelerate chemical reactions and reduce energy consumption. For example, in automobile exhaust treatment, it can convert carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC) into harmless carbon dioxide and water, and reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) to nitrogen.
Low cost: Compared with precious metal catalysts such as platinum and palladium, copper oxide is cheap and abundant in reserves, suitable for large-scale application.
Environmentally friendly: non-toxic and harmless, no secondary pollution after the reaction, in line with the concept of green chemistry.
In the field of environmental protection, copper oxide has a wide range of application scenarios, covering waste gas purification, industrial wastewater treatment, carbon dioxide resource utilization, etc., and has become an important tool for achieving the "dual carbon" goal.
2. Principle Revealed: How does copper oxide "turn stone into gold"?
1. Exhaust gas purification: make exhaust gas "clean"
Harmful gases (such as CO, NOx) in automobile exhaust need to be catalytically converted to meet emission standards. Copper oxide forms active sites on the surface of the catalyst carrier (such as ceramic honeycomb) and achieves purification through the following reactions:
Oxidation reaction: CO + O₂ → CO₂ (copper oxide accelerates the combination of oxygen and carbon monoxide).
Reduction reaction: NOx + CO → N₂ + CO₂ (copper oxide promotes the decomposition of nitrogen oxides into nitrogen).
This "killing two birds with one stone" catalytic effect increases the exhaust gas treatment efficiency by more than 30%.
2. Wastewater treatment: degradation of toxic pollutants
Industrial wastewater often contains phenols, pesticides and other difficult-to-degrade organic matter. Copper oxide can produce strong oxidizing free radicals (·OH) through advanced oxidation technology (such as activated persulfate), directly destroying the molecular structure of pollutants. For example:
Treatment of phenol-containing wastewater: copper oxide catalyst and persulfate work synergistically, with a degradation rate of more than 95% within 1 hour, and can be reused more than 5 times.
Heavy metal adsorption: Copper oxide nanoparticles can also adsorb heavy metals such as arsenic and cadmium in wastewater, achieving pollutant removal and resource recovery simultaneously.
3. Carbon dioxide conversion: from "waste gas" to "fuel"
Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂RR) is one of the key technologies for carbon neutrality. Copper oxide catalysts can convert CO₂ into high-value-added chemicals such as ethylene and ethanol. The principle is:
Electron transfer: Hydroxyl groups (OH⁻) adsorbed on the surface of copper oxide enhance the adsorption of CO₂ molecules and promote the formation of carbon-carbon bonds.
Selective regulation: By regulating the crystal form of copper oxide (such as Cu₂O/CuO), specific products can be generated in a targeted manner (such as 61.5% ethylene selectivity).
3. Actual combat case: Environmental protection "report card" of copper oxide
Automobile exhaust purification: After a city's bus system uses copper oxide-based catalysts, CO emissions in exhaust gas are reduced by 85%, NOx is reduced by 70%, and air quality is significantly improved.
Industrial wastewater treatment: A chemical plant introduced the copper oxide-persulfate process, and the COD (chemical oxygen demand) of phenol-containing wastewater was reduced from 2000 mg/L to 50 mg/L, and the treatment cost was reduced by 40%.
Carbon dioxide resource utilization: Experiments show that copper oxide catalysts can stably produce ethylene in a flow pool with an efficiency of 60%, providing green raw materials for the chemical industry.
IV. Future Outlook: What else can copper oxide do?
Single-atom catalytic technology: Disperse copper atoms on the surface of the carrier to improve catalytic efficiency and reduce material usage.
Solar drive: Combined with photocatalytic technology, solar energy is used to activate copper oxide and reduce energy consumption (such as light reversing copper oxide to a metallic state to increase reaction activity).
Intelligent application: Optimize catalyst design through AI, match different pollution scenarios, and achieve precise governance.
Conclusion
From purifying exhaust gas to degrading sewage, from converting carbon dioxide to helping carbon neutrality, copper oxide catalysts are reshaping the environmental protection industry with "green technology". In the future, with technological innovation and policy support, this "environmental protection guard" will continue to protect blue skies and clear waters and promote sustainable development to new heights!

author: Hazel
date:2025-05-21