Organics Wastewater Degradation by a Mesoporous Chromium-Functionalized γ-Al2O3 with H2O2 Assistance

Abstract

In this study, a mesoporous chromium-functionalized γ-Al2O3 (Cr/γ-Al2O3) catalyst was prepared by an impregnation method, and the catalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of organics wastewater. The prepared catalyst was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption experiments, and scanning electron microscopy. The characterization results confirmed that the pores in the Cr/γ-Al2O3 catalyst distributed broadly in the mesoporous region, and the active chromium species were highly dispersed on the catalyst surface. The catalytic activity tests showed that the Cr/γ-Al2O3 catalyst exhibited a superior performance for the degradation of organics wastewater with H2O2 assistance. And the methylene blue (MB) disappeared within 20 min and the COD removal reached 76.5% within 40 min for the MB-simulated wastewater; for the phenol-simulated wastewater, the phenol removal was above 95% and the corresponding COD removal reached 71% within 40 min. Such an excellent catalytic performance demonstrates that the Cr/γ-Al2O3 catalyst has a potential application in the degradation of complex organics wastewater simultaneously.