Highly stable Fe/γ-Al2O3 catalyst for catalytic wet peroxide oxidation

✍ Scribed by Patricia Bautista; Angel F. Mohedano; Jose A. Casas; Juan A. Zazo; Juan J. Rodriguez

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 190 KB
• Volume: 86
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0268-2575
• DOI: 10.1002/jctb.2538

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A highly stable Fe/γ‐Al~2~O~3~ catalyst for catalytic wet peroxide oxidation has been studied using phenol as target pollutant. The catalyst was prepared by incipient wetness impregnation of γ‐Al~2~O~3~ with an aqueous solution of Fe(NO~3~)~3~· 9H~2~O. The influence of pH, temperature, catalyst and H~2~O~2~ doses, as well as the initial phenol concentration has been analyzed.

RESULTS: The reaction temperature and initial pH significantly affect both phenol conversion and total organic carbon removal. Working at 50 °C, an initial pH of 3, 100 mg L^−1^ of phenol, a dose of H~2~O~2~ corresponding to the stoichiometric amount and 1250 mg L^−1^ of catalyst, complete phenol conversion and a total organic carbon removal efficiency close to 80% were achieved. When the initial phenol concentration was increased to 1500 mg L^−1^, a decreased efficiency in total organic carbon removal was observed with increased leaching of iron that can be related to a higher concentration of oxalic acid, as by‐product from catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of phenol.

CONCLUSION: A laboratory synthesized γ‐Al~2~O~3~ supported Fe has shown potential application in catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of phenolic wastewaters. The catalyst showed remarkable stability in long‐term continuous experiments with limited Fe leaching, < 3% of the initial loading. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry