Improved Fe2O3/Al2O3 as Heterogeneous Fenton Catalysts for the Oxidation of Phenol Solutions in a Continuous Reactor

LUCILA DOUMIC; CARLA DI LUCA; FERNANDO IVORRA; PAOLA MASSA; ROSA FENOGLIO; FRANCISCO MEDINA CABELLO

Almería

Conferencia; 3er EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS OF ADVANCED OXIDATION PROCESSES; 2013

Universidad de Almería/Plataforma Solar de Almería

Different Fe2O3/Al2O3 catalysts (4wt% Fe) were prepared by wet impregnation onto commercial alumina pellets, and they were characterized by N2 physisorption, XRD, SEM-EDAX, TGA and TPR. The systems were tested for the oxidation of phenol solutions (5 g/L) in a fixed bed reactor, using H2O2 as oxidant at 70 ºC. In order to enhance the catalyst stability two strategies were combined: an elevated temperature of thermal treatment (900 °C) and pre-treatments with different organic acids (acetic, oxalic). The catalyst exhibited almost complete phenol conversions and high mineralization levels (ca. 50%).The stability of the catalytic system was improved significantly by means of the acid treatments, with a good performance over the oxidation process.