Sewage-sludge-derived carbonaceous materials for catalytic wet hydrogen peroxide oxidation of m-cresol in batch and continuous reactors

Abstract

In this study, four sewage-sludge-derived carbonaceous materials (SWs) were evaluated for their catalytic wet hydrogen peroxide oxidation (CWPO) performance of m-cresol in batch reactor and continuous reactor, respectively. The SWs were produced by carbonization (SW); carbonization with the addition of CaO (CaO-SW); HNO3 pretreatment (HNO3-SW) and steam activation (Activated-SW). The properties of SW catalysts were assessed by thermogravimetric analysis, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, X-ray Fluorescence, Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and zeta potential. The results showed that SW treated by HNO3 (HNO3-SW) had a high conversion of m-cresol in batch reactor and continuous reactor, respectively. Under the conditions of batch reaction (Cm-cresol = 100 mg L−1, CH2O2 = 15.7 mmol L−1, initial pH=7.0, 0.5 g L−1 catalyst, 80°C, 180 min adsorption and 210 min oxidation), the conversion of m-cresol reached 100% and total organic carbon removal was 67.1%. It had a high catalytic activity and stability on the treatment of m-cresol in CWPO for more than 1100 h. Furthermore, a possible reaction mechanism for the oxidation of m-cresol to 2-methyl-p-benzoquinone by CWPO was proposed.