Catalysis of rGO-WO3 nanocomposite for aqueous bisphenol A degradation in dielectric barrier discharge plasma oxidation process

Abstract

Due to the multi-catalysis of the WO3 and excellent properties of the graphene (GO), a series of rGO-WO3 nanocomposites were prepared through the hydrothermal synthesis procedure by changing the material ratio, the reaction temperature and the reaction time in this paper, and then added it into a dielectric barrier discharge plasma (DBDP) system for investigating the bisphenol A (BPA)’s degradation and corresponding catalytic mechanism of the rGO-WO3 in the DBDP system. The obtained results show that there was an optimum dosage of the rGO-WO3 (40 mg/L) as well as the preparation conditions (5:1000 mass ratio of the GO and the WO3, 18 h reaction time and 120 °C reaction temperature) for achieving the highest catalytic effect, and the highest degradation rate constant of the BPA was 0.03129 min−1. The determined higher TOC removal, higher COD removal as well as UV–Vis analysis also demonstrated the catalysis of the rGO-WO3. The measurement of the change of the O3 and the H2O2 concentrations in the reaction system with or without the rGO-WO3 and with or without the BPA proved the catalysis of the rGO-WO3 on the ·OH formation, while the combination of the GO had the positive effect for enhancing the catalytic effect. A figure on the catalysis and degradation procedure of the BPA in the DBDP/rGO-WO3 system was provided in the paper.