Abstract
The amorphous Fe78Si9B13 alloy was used as a heterogeneous Fenton catalyst in the process of phenol degradation. The influences of main operating parameters such as reaction temperature, catalyst amount, hydrogen peroxide dosage and initial pH of solution on phenol degradation rate were investigated. The maximum mineralization of phenol was achieved at 60°C, 6 g/L Fe78Si9B13, 0.31 mol/L hydrogen peroxide, with an initial pH of 2.5. More than 99% of phenol was completely removed under the optimum conditions within 10 min for a solution containing 1000 mg/L of phenol. Batch experiments for solutions containing phenol concentrations ranging from 50 to 2000 mg/L were investigated under the above conditions and the same excellent degradation rate was obtained. The Fe78Si9B13 showed better catalytic activity than iron powder and Fe2+. Addition of n-butannol (hydroxyl radical scavenger) decreased the degradation rate of phenol, which demonstrates that hydroxyl radicals were mainly responsible for the removal of phenol. We demonstrated that phenol may be degraded by hydroxyl radicals decomposed by hydrogen peroxide on the surface of Fe78Si9B13 and illustrated the reaction mechanism for this process. This amorphous alloy exhibited high stability in recycling experiments and showed excellent reuse performance even after continuous operations of 8 cycles.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Iurascu B, Siminiceanu I, Vione D, et al. Phenol degradation in water through a heterogeneous photo-Fenton process catalyzed by Fe-treated laponite. Water Res, 2009, 43: 1313–1322
Bandyopadhyay K, Das D, Maiti B R. Kinetics of phenol degradation using Pseudomonas putida MTCC 1194. Bioprocess Eng, 1998, 18: 373–377
Turhan K, Uzman S. Removal of phenol from water using ozone. Desalination, 2008, 229: 257–263
Ahmaruzzaman M, Sharma D K. Adsorption of phenols from wastewater. J Colloid Interface Sci, 2005, 287: 14–24
Juan C, Montilla L, Pandey S, et al. Removal of non-ionic organic pollutants from water via liquid-liquid extraction. Water Res, 2005, 39: 1907–1913
Hill G A, Campbell W R. Substrate inhibition kinetics: Phenol degradation by Pseudomonas putida. Biotechnol Bioeng, 1975, 17: 1599–1615
Rodríguez I, Llompart M P, Cela R. Solid-phase extraction of phenols. J Chromatogr A, 2000, 885: 291–304
Daifullah A A M, Girgis B S. Removal of some substituted phenols by activated carbon obtained from agricultural waste. Water Res, 1998, 32: 1169–1177
Zhong Y D, Aki S N V K, Maraham M A. Catalytic supercritical water oxidation: Phenol conversion and product selectivity. Environ Sci Technol, 1995, 29: 2748–2753
Nair C I, Jayachandran K, Shashidhar S. Biodegradation of phenol. Afr J Biotechnol, 2008, 25: 4951–4958
Jiang H, Fang Y, Guo Q X. Studies on the extraction of phenol in wastewater. J Hazard Mater B, 2003, 101: 179–190
Hameed B H, Rahman A A. Removal of phenol from aqueous solutions by adsorption onto activated carbon prepared from biomass material. J Hazard Mater, 2008, 160: 576–581
Kibret M, Somitsch W, Robra K H. Characterization of phenol degrading mixed population by enzyme assy. Water Res, 2000, 34: 1127–1134
Ahmaruzzaman M. Adsorption of phenolic compounds on low-cost adsorbents: A review. Adv Colloid Interface Sci, 2008, 143: 48–67
Xu J Q, Duan W H, Zhou X Z, et al. Extraction of phenol in wastewater with annular centrifugal contactors. J Hazard Mater B, 2006, 131: 98–102
Yang C F, Yu Q, Zhang L J, et al. Solvent extraction process development and on-site trial-plant for phenol removal from industrial coal-gasification wastewater. Chem Eng J, 2006, 117: 179–185
Pinto R T P, Lintomen L, Luz L F L Jr, et al. Strategies for recovering phenol from wastewater: Thermodynamic evaluation and environmental concerns. Fluid Phase Equilib, 2005, 228–229: 447–457
Banat F A, Al-Bashir B, Al-Asheh S, et al. Adsorption of phenol by bentonite. Environ Pollut, 2000, 107: 391–398
Mustafa A I, Alam M S, Amin M N, et al. Phenol removal from aqueous system by jute stick. Pak J Anal Environ Chem, 2008, 9: 92–95
Rengaraj S, Moon S H, Sivabalan R, et al. Removal of phenol from aqueous solution and resin manufacturing industry wastewater using an agricultural waste: Rubber seed coat. J Hazard Mater, 2002, 89: 185–196
Babel S, Kurniawan T A. Low-cost adsorbents for heavy metals uptake from contaminated water: A review. J Hazard Mater B, 2003, 97: 219–243
Santos A, Yustos P, Quintanilla A, et al. Route of the catalytic oxidation of phenol in aqueous phase. Appl Catal B: Environ, 2002, 39: 97–113
Moussavi G, Khavanin A, Alizadeh R. The investigation of catalytic ozonation and integrated catalytic ozonation/biological processes for the removal of phenol from saline wastewaters. J Hazard Mater, 2009, 171: 175–181
Guo J, Al-Dahhan M. Catalytic wet oxidation of phenol by hydrogen peroxide over pillared clay catalyst. Ind Eng Chem Res, 2003, 42: 2450–2460
Bremner D H, Burgess A E, Houllemare D, et al. Phenol degradation using hydroxyl radicals generated from zero-valent iron and hydrogen peroxide. Appl Catal B: Environ, 2006, 63: 15–19
Liou R M, Chen S H. CuO impregnated activated carbon for catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of phenol. J Hazard Mater, 2009, 172: 498–506
Zhang S X, Zhao X L, Niu H Y, et al. Superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles as catalysts for the catalytic oxidation of phenolic and aniline compounds. J Hazard Mater, 2009, 167: 560–566
Zazo J A, Casas J A, Mohedano A F, et al. Catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of phenol with a Fe/active carbon catalyst. Appl Catal B: Environ, 2006, 65: 261–268
Herney-Ramirez J, Lampinen M, Vicente M A, et al. Experimental design to optimize the oxidation of orange II dye solution using a clay-based Fenton-like catalyst. Ind Eng Chem Res, 2008, 47: 284–294
Oliveira R, Almeida M F, Santos L, et al. Experimental design of 2,4-dichlorophenol oxidation by Fenton’s reaction. Ind Eng Chem Res, 2006, 45: 1266–1276
Neamtu M, Yediler A, Siminiceanu I, et al. Oxidation of commercial reactive azo dye aqueous solutions by the photo-Fenton and Fenton-like processes. J Photochem Photobiol A: Chem, 2003, 161: 893
Feng J Y, Hu X J, Yue P L. Degradation of salicylic acid by photo-assisted Fenton reaction using Fe ions on strongly acidic ion exchange resin as catalyst. Chem Eng J, 2004, 100: 159–165
Fernandez J, Bandara J, Lopez A, et al. Efficient photo-assisted Fenton catalysis mediated by Fe ions on nafion membranes active in the abatement of non-biodegradable azo-dye. Chem Commun, 1998, 1491–1494
Sabhi S, Kiwi J. Degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol by immobilized iron catalysts. Water Res, 2001, 35: 1994–2002
Dhananjeyana M R, Kiwi J, Albersb P, et al. Photo-assisted immobilized Fenton degradation up to pH 8 of azo dye Orange II mediated by Fe3+/nafion/glass fibers. Helv Chim Acta, 2001, 84: 3433–3445
Liao Q, Sun J, Gao L. Degradation of phenol by heterogeneous Fenton reaction using multi-walled carbon nanotube supported Fe2O3 catalysts. Colloids Surf A, 2009, 345: 95–100
Lücking F, Köser H, Jank M, et al. Iron powder, graphite and activated carbon as catalysts for the oxidation of 4-chlorophenol with hydrogen peroxide in aqueous solution. Water Res, 1998, 32: 2607–2614
Rebak R B, Aprigliano L F, Day S D, et al. Salt fog testing iron-based amorphous alloy. Mater Res Soc Symp Proc, 2007, 985: 321–326
Shen J, Chen Q J, Sun J F, et al. Exceptionally high glass-forming ability of an FeCoCrMoCBY alloy. Appl Phys Lett, 2005, 86: 151907
Jiao Z B, Li H X, Wu Y, et al. Effects of Mo additions on the glass-forming ability and magnetic properties of bulk amorphous Fe-C-Si-B-P-Mo alloys. Sci China Phys Mech Astron, 2010, 53: 430–434
Santos A, Yustos P, Quintanilla A, et al. Evolution of toxicity upon wet catalytic oxidation of phenol. Environ Sci Technol, 2004, 38: 133–138
Carbajo M, Beltrán F J, Medina F, et al. Catalytic ozonation of phenolic compounds: The case of gallic acid. Appl Catal B: Environ, 2006, 67: 177–186
Dong Y M, Yang H X, He K, et al. Catalytic activity and stability of Y zeolite for phenol degradation in the presence of ozone. Appl Catal B: Environ, 2008, 82: 163–168
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Rights and permissions
This article is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, P., Bian, X. & Li, Y. Catalytic oxidation of phenol in wastewater — A new application of the amorphous Fe78Si9B13 alloy. Chin. Sci. Bull. 57, 33–40 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-011-4876-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-011-4876-2