This review reports the research progress in the abatement of major pollutants in air and water by environmental catalysis. For air pollution control, the selective catalytic reduction of NO
Mesoporous silicas such as MCM-41 and SBA-15 possess high surface areas, ordered nanopores, and excellent thermal stability, and have been often used as catalyst supports. Although mesoporous metal oxides have lower surface areas compared to mesoporous silicas, they generally have more diversified functionalities. Mesoporous metal oxides can be synthesized via a soft-templating or hard-templating approach, and these materials have recently found some applications in environmental catalysis, such as CO oxidation, N2O decomposition, and elimination of organic pollutants. In this review, we summarize the synthesis of mesoporous transition metal oxides using mesoporous silicas as hard templates, highlight the application of these materials in environmental catalysis, and furnish some prospects for future development.
Carbonate shells have an astonishing ability in the removal of Cd2+ in a short time period with emphasis on being a low cost adsorbent. In the present study, the sorption capacity of carbonate shells was studied for Cd2+ in batch experiments. The influence of different carbonate shell sizes and physico-chemical factors were evaluated and the results were analyzed for its correlation matrices by using Predictive Analytics Software (PASW). The mineralogy state of aqueous solution regarding the saturation index was simulated using PHREEQC to identify the Cd2+ uptake mechanism. The Cd uptake rates were calculated as well as Ca2+,
Hexahedron-like BiPO4 microcrystals were sucessfully synthesized via a template-free hydrothermal method. The resulting samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV–vis spectroscopy. The BiPO4 samples were of pure monoclinic phase, and the initial amount of
Direct formic acid fuel cells are a promising portable power-generating device, and the development of efficient anodic catalysts is essential for such a fuel cell. In this work Pt-Bi nanoparticles supported on micro-fabricated gold wire array substrate were synthesized using an electrochemical deposition method for formic acid oxidation in fuel cells. The surface morphology and element components of the Pt-Bi/Au nanoparticles were characterized, and the catalytic activities of the three Pt-Bi/Au nanoparticle electrodes with different Pt/Bi ratios for formic acid oxidation were evaluated. It was found that Pt4Bi96/Au had a much higher catalytic activity than Pt11Bi89/Au and Pt13Bi87/Au, and Pt4Bi96/Au exhibited a current density of 2.7 mA·cm-2, which was 27-times greater than that of Pt/Au. The electro-catalytic activity of the Pt-Bi/Au electrode for formic acid oxidation increased with the increasing Bi content, suggesting that it would be possible to achieve an efficient formic acid oxidation on the low Pt-loading. Therefore, the Pt-Bi/Au electrode offers a promising catalyst with a high activity for direct oxidation of formic acid in fuel cells.
The development of a combined process of catalytic oxidation and microwave heating for treatment of toluene waste gas was described in this work. Toluene, a typical toxic volatile organic compound, was oxidized through a fixed bed reaction chamber containing zeolite-supported copper oxide (CuO/zeolite) catalyst mixed with silicon carbide (SiC), an excellent microwave-absorbing material. The target compound was efficiently degraded on the surface of the catalyst at high reaction temperature achieved by microwave-heated SiC. A set of experimental parameters, such as microwave power, air flow and the loading size of CuO etc., were investigated, respectively. The study demonstrated these parameters had critical impact on toluene degradation. Under optimal condition, 92% toluene was removed by this combined process, corresponding to an 80%–90% TOC removal rate. Furthermore, the catalyst was highly stable even after eight consecutive 6-h runs. At last, a hypothetical degradation pathway of toluene was proposed based on the experimental data obtained from gas chromatography-mass spectrum and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses.
Motivated by the recent realization of graphene sensor to detect gas molecules that are harmful to the environment, the ammonia adsorption on graphene or graphene oxide (GO) was investigated using first-principles calculation. The optimal adsorption and orientation of the NH3 molecules on the graphene surfaces were determined, and the adsorption energies (
A novel hyper-crosslinked resin (MENQ) modified with an anion exchange group was prepared using divinylbenzene (DVB) and methyl acrylate (MA) as comonomers via four steps: suspension polymerization, post-crosslinking, ammonolysis and alkylation reactions. The obtained resin had both a high specific surface area (793.34 m2·g-1) and a large exchange capacity (strong base anion exchange capacity, SEC: 0.74 mmol·g-1, weak base anion exchange capacity, WEC: 0.45 mmol·g-1). XAD-4 was selected as an adsorbent for comparison to investigate the adsorption behavior of tetracycline (TC) and humic acid (HA) onto the adsorbents. The results revealed that MENQ could effectively remove both TC and HA. The adsorption capacity of XAD-4 for TC was similar to that of MENQ, but XAD-4 exhibited poor performance for the adsorption of HA. The adsorption isotherms of TC and HA were well-fitted with the Freundlich model, which indicated the existence of heterogeneous adsorption through cation-π bonding and π–π interactions. The optimal solution condition for the adsorption of TC was at a pH of 5–6, whereas the adsorption of HA was enhanced with increasing pH of the solution.
V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalyst was poisoned by impregnation with NH4Cl, KOH and KCl solution, respectively. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma (ICP), N2 physisorption, Raman, UV-vis, NH3 adsorption, temperature-programmed reduction of hydrogen (H2-TPR), temperature-programmed oxidation of ammonia (NH3-TPO) and selective catalytic reduction of NO
This work describes the environmentally friendly technology for oxidation of ammonia (NH3) to form nitrogen at temperatures range from 423K to 673K by selective catalytic oxidation (SCO) over a nanosized Pt-Rh/γ-Al2O3 catalyst prepared by the incipient wetness impregnation method of hexachloroplatinic acid (H2PtCl6) and rhodium (III) nitrate (Rh(NO3)3) with γ-Al2O3 in a tubular fixed-bed flow quartz reactor (TFBR). The characterization of catalysts were thoroughly measured using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), three-dimensional excitation-emission fluorescent matrix (EEFM) spectroscopy, UV-Vis absorption, dynamic light-scattering (DLS), zeta potential meter, and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results demonstrated that at a temperature of 673K and an oxygen content of 4%, approximately 99% of the NH3 was removed by catalytic oxidation over the nanosized Pt-Rh/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. N2 was the main product in NH3-SCO process. Further, it reveals that the oxidation of NH3 was proceeds by the over-oxidation of NH3 into NO, which was conversely reacted with the NH3 to yield N2. Therefore, the application of nanosized Pt-Rh/γ-Al2O3 catalyst can significantly enhance the catalytic activity toward NH3 oxidation. One fluorescent peak for fresh catalyst was different with that of exhausted catalyst. It indicates that EEFM spectroscopy was proven to be an appropriate and effective method to characterize the Pt clusters in intrinsic emission from nanosized Pt-Rh/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. Results obtained from the CV may explain the significant catalytic activity of the catalysts.
A simple solvothermal method was used to prepare monodisperse magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles attached onto graphene oxide (GO) sheets as adsorbents to remove tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) from an aqueous solution. These Fe3O4/GO (MGO) nanocomposites were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The adsorption capacity at different initial pH, contact duration, and temperature were evaluated. The kinetics of adsorption was found to fit the pseudo-second-order model perfectly. The adsorption isotherm well fitted the Langmuir model, and the theoretical maximum of adsorption capacity calculated by the Langmuir model was 27.26 mg?g-1. The adsorption thermodynamics of TBBPA on the MGO nanocomposites was determined at 303 K, 313 K, and 323 K, respectively. The results indicated that the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic. The MGO nanocomposites were conveniently separated from the media by an external magnetic field within several seconds, and then regenerated in 0.2 M NaOH solution. Thus, the MGO nanocomposites are a promising candidate for TBBPA removal from wastewater.
Fe3O4 was supported on mesoporous Al2O3 or SiO2 (50 wt.%) using an incipient wetness impregnation method, and Fe3O4/Al2O3 exhibited higher catalytic efficiency for the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and
Selective catalytic reduction of NO