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Oxidation of phenolic compounds by rust-supported microporous materials
Author
Lim, Jen Joo
Supervisor
Wong, Ka Lun
Tan, Swee Ngin
Abstract
Phenolic compounds are carcinogenic and cannot be easily disposed off. Thus the overall aim of this research project is to investigate the effectiveness of a green catalyst to treat wastewater containing phenolic compounds and phenol is used as a model pollutant. This specific objective of study is to use a cheap alternative to prepare iron nanoparticles via rusting of iron nails to generate iron species needed for the wet oxidation of phenol using hydrogen peroxide. Alternative low cost and off the shelves support sorbents, such as cotton and polyester cloth, was tested. However, the results were not promising due to the poor stability of sorbents in hydrogen peroxide medium. Zeolites which have been widely used as a support medium in Fenton reaction were chosen and the iron-containing zeolite was prepared by wet ion exchange method from ammonium form of commercial ZSM5 zeolite. The catalysts were characterised by SEM, XRD and ICP-OES for the determination of their surface area, crystallinity and Fe content. Iron-containing zeolites were used in wet oxidation of phenol using hydrogen peroxide in which its reaction parameters, such as stirring effect, catalyst mass, and temperature were optimised. The optimum conditions were applied for the analysis of a local lake water sample to determine the percentage of phenol oxidation for the investigating of the effectiveness of the catalyst. The comparison of homogeneous catalyst versus heterogeneous catalyst was also tested in the phenol oxidation. The experimental data showed that majority of the iron content had leached out from the zeolites. The activity of phenol degradation was mainly due to the iron species present in the aqueous solution rather than in the Zeolites. Therefore, it could be concluded that zeolites were not a suitable medium to support rust nanoparticles.
Date Issued
2014
Call Number
TD477 Lim
Date Submitted
2014