Photochemically enhanced degradation of phenol using heterogeneous Fenton-type catalysts

Article type: Research Article

Authors: He, Feng | Shen, Xue-you | Lei, Le-cheng

Affiliations: Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Abstract: The degradation of phenol was carried out using heterogeneous Fenton-type catalysts in the presence of H2O2 and UV. Catalysts were prepared by exchanging and immobilizing Fe2+ in zeolite 13X, silica gel or Al2O3. The concentration of phenol solution was 100 mg/L. The amount of H2O2 added was the stoichiometric amount of H2O2 required for the total oxidation of phenol. Under the irradiation of medium pressure light (300W) phenol was mineralized within 1h in the presence of Fe2+/zeolite 13X. The COD removal rate was enhanced in the presence of Fe2+/zeolite 13X compared to that of Fe2+/silica gel or Fe2+/Al2O3. Analogous homogenous photo-Fenton reaction with equivalent Fe2+ was also carried out to evaluate the catalysis efficiency of Fe2+/zeolite 13X. Results showed that the COD removal rate was near to that of homogeneous Fenton, while heterogeneous Fe2+/zeolite 13X catalyst could be recycled.

Keywords: phenol degradation, photo-Fenton process, heterogeneous Fenton, Fe2+/zeolite

Journal: Journal of Environmental Sciences, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 351-355, 2003