Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, 34110, Doha, Qatar.
Division of Sustainable Development, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation, 34110, Doha, Qatar.
Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 18;11(1):6342. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-85651-2.
Heterogeneous catalytic ozonation is an effective approach to degrade refractory organic pollutants in water. However, ozonation catalysts with combined merits of high activity, good reusability and low cost for practical industrial applications are still rare. This study aims to develop an efficient, stable and economic ozonation catalyst for the degradation of Ibuprofen, a pharmaceutical compound frequently detected as a refractory pollutant in treated wastewaters. The novel three-dimensional network-structured catalyst, comprising of δ-MnO nanosheets grown on woven carbon microfibers (MnO nanosheets/carbon microfiber), was synthesized via a facile hydrothermal approach. Catalytic ozonation performance of Ibuprofen removal in water using the new catalyst proves a significant enhancement, where Ibuprofen removal efficiency of close to 90% was achieved with a catalyst loading of 1% (w/v). In contrast, conventional ozonation was only able to achieve 65% removal efficiency under the same operating condition. The enhanced performance with the new catalyst could be attributed to its significantly increased available surface active sites and improved mass transfer of reaction media, as a result of the special surface and structure properties of this new three-dimensional network-structured catalyst. Moreover, the new catalyst displays excellent stability and reusability for ibuprofen degradation over successive reaction cycles. The facile synthesis method and low-cost materials render the new catalyst high potential for industrial scaling up. With the combined advantages of high efficiency, high stability, and low cost, this study sheds new light for industrial applications of ozonation catalysts.
多相催化臭氧氧化是一种有效降解水中难降解有机污染物的方法。然而，对于实际工业应用，具有高活性、良好的可重复使用性和低成本的臭氧催化剂仍然很少。本研究旨在开发一种高效、稳定且经济的臭氧催化剂，用于降解布洛芬，布洛芬是一种在处理废水中经常检测到的难降解污染物的药物化合物。通过简单的水热方法合成了由编织碳纤维上生长的δ-MnO 纳米片组成的新型三维网络结构催化剂（MnO 纳米片/碳纤维）。在水中使用新型催化剂对布洛芬的去除进行了催化臭氧氧化性能研究，结果表明其去除效率显著提高，在催化剂负载量为 1%（w/v）时，布洛芬的去除效率接近 90%。相比之下，在相同的操作条件下，传统臭氧氧化只能达到 65%的去除效率。新型催化剂具有优异的性能，这归因于其特殊的表面和结构特性，显著增加了可用的表面活性位，并改善了反应介质的传质。此外，新型催化剂在布洛芬降解的连续反应循环中表现出优异的稳定性和可重复使用性。新型催化剂的合成方法简单，材料成本低，具有很高的工业化放大潜力。本研究为臭氧催化剂的工业应用提供了新的思路，具有高效、高稳定性和低成本的综合优势。
