Charcoal-supported catalyst with enhanced thermal-stability for the catalytic combustion of volatile organic compounds

•Charcoal originated from thinned wood was used as support material.•The charcoal-supported transition metal catalyst for VOCs catalytic oxidation.•Thermal treatment under mild conditions promoted the charcoal thermal-stability.•The Co addition to the raw charcoal promoted the graphitization of carbon.•The charcoal-supported Cu-Co catalyst gave high activity for the VOCs oxidation.