Efficacious degradation of ethylene glycol in baffled ozonation reactor in the presence of waste-derived MIL-53(Al/Fe)-metal-organic framework derived Al2O3/Fe3O4

Abstract

Ethylene glycol (EG) has been widely used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, antifreezes, and de-icing fluid. However, EG possesses toxic detrimental effects on human and aquatic creatures. The degradation of EG in catalytic ozonation based advanced oxidation processes was rarely reported before. In this regard, a novel porous catalyst, magnetic MIL-53(Al/Fe)-metal-organic framework (MOF) derived Al2O3/Fe3O4 (wAl-Fe@MOF) was synthesized for the first-time using PET, iron, and aluminum scraps for efficacious catalytic ozonation system (COS) of EG. A maximal EG degradation and mineralization of 97.03 ± 2.79% and 57.75 ± 2.60% were obtained in wAl-Fe-based COS, which was higher than sole O3 (70.76 ± 3.90%; 22.65 ± 2.20%) and O3/H2O2 (74.51 ± 2.58%; 36.57 ± 3.10%). The wAl-Fe@MOF displayed only about 18% drop in deterioration efficiency after 5th cycle of reusability, demonstrating outstanding stability and recyclability. The electron paramagnetic resonance and radical scavenging tests confirmed that surface adsorbed ˙OHads were majorly accountable for EG degradation. Phytotoxicity revealed that COS effectively reduced the toxicity of EG towards Vigna radiata. The energy consumption and operating cost were found to be 0.863 kWh m−3 order−1 and 0.086 $ m−3 order−1, indicating wAl-Fe@MOF based COS could be highly appropriate for wastewater purification in real field applications.