Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2016, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (6): 963-970.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(15)61092-0

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Synergistic degradation of phenols by bimetallic CuO-Co3O4@γ-Al2O3 catalyst in H2O2/HCO3- system

Yibing Lia,b, Ali Jawadb, Aimal Khanb, Xiaoyan Lub, Zhuqi Chenb, Weidong Liua, Guochuan Yinb   

  1. a College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, Zhejiang, China;
    b Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China
  • Received:2016-03-26 Revised:2016-03-29 Online:2016-05-30 Published:2016-05-30
  • Contact: Guochuan Yin
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21273086) and Chutian Scholar Foundation from Hubei Province, China.

Abstract:

The development of new catalytic techniques for wastewater treatment has long attracted much attention from industrial and academic communities. However, because of catalyst leaching during degradation, catalysts can be short lived, and therefore expensive, and unsuitable for use in wastewater treatment. In this work, we developed a bimetallic CuO-Co3O4@γ-Al2O3 catalyst for phenol degradation with bicarbonate-activated H2O2. The weakly basic environment provided by the bicarbonate buffer greatly suppresses leaching of active Cu and Co metal ions from the catalyst. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results showed interactions between Cu and Co ions in the CuO-Co3O4@γ-Al2O3 catalyst, and these improve the catalytic activity in phenol degradation. Mechanistic studies using different radical scavengers showed that superoxide and hydroxyl radicals both played significant roles in phenol degradation, whereas singlet oxygen was less important.

Key words: Synergistic effect, Phenol degradation, Copper/cobalt oxide catalyst, Mechanistic study, Bicarbonate-activated H2O2