CATALYTIC WET AIR OXIDATION USING GRAPHENE OXIDE AND RUTHENIUM NANOPARTICLES SUPPORTED ON GRAPHENE OXIDE

摘要

Catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) is a candidate method for the effective treatment of industrial wastewaters. In the present study, CWAO of four model compounds bisphenol-A (BPA), isophorone, p-toluidine (PT), and p-hydroxy benzoic acid (PHBA) was investigated in a slurry reactor using graphene oxide (GO) and ruthenium nanoparticles supported on graphene oxide (Ru/GO). GO and Ru/GO were synthesized and characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, and hydrogen chemisorption. The thermal stability was determined using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The performance of the GO catalyst for wet air oxidation was encouraging. The catalytic activity was enhanced when ruthenium nanoparticles were doped on GO. The effect of temperature and catalyst loading on the oxidation process was investigated. The changes in total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxidation demand (COD), biological oxidation demand (BOD_5), and biodegradability index (BI) during oxidation were recorded. The trends in ease of TOC conversion and biodegradation were established.