In this study we prepared a WO3-based catalyst to investigate its catalytic activity in the total oxidation of the volatile organic compounds known as benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX). For a range of low temperatures (50-450ºC) the only reaction products were CO2 and H2O. The results for the catalyst characterization suggested that the high catalytic activity could be attributed to the effects of a strong metal interaction, which is possibly originated from the small lattice parameter difference between the (111), (020) and (002) lattice planes and the presence of W4+, W5+ and W6+ species on the surface of the catalyst which react with active oxygen species.
tungsten oxide; catalytic oxidation; BTX
