Novel technology based on heterogeneous catalysis application for the simultaneous removal of organic and inorganic species in water: efficiency assessment in real water matrices.

Water contamination remains a current topic and still lacks an effective resolution. In this work, a novel integrated catalytic system-combining catalytic ozonation and catalytic reduction in series-was developed and tested for real water treatment applications. This approach offers an innovative strategy for the simultaneous degradation and conversion of multiple classes of pollutants, avoiding conventional pollutant capture methods and instead promoting their effective transformation into less harmful species. Several organic micropollutants, identified as environmentally relevant and potentially hazardous, were detected in real wastewater and successfully degraded during the catalytic ozonation step. As a result of this oxidative process, a significant increase in nitrate concentration was observed, which was subsequently converted into less toxic species through catalytic hydrogenation, using Pd-Cu supported macrostructured catalysts within the same system. This final part of the treatment proved to be extremely sensitive to high loads of organic/inorganic matter that could lead to partial deactivation of the bimetallic catalyst due to competition for the active centers. Nevertheless, catalyst activity was partially restored through a regeneration process involving thermal treatment at temperatures near those used for metal reduction. Overall, the system demonstrates promising performance as a comprehensive water treatment solution, enabling efficient and continuous removal of both organic and inorganic contaminants in a single integrated process.