Catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) of cationic red GTL over the Fe2O3-CeO2-Bi2O3/γ-Al2O3 catalyst under mild reaction conditions

The catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) of cationic red GTL over the Fe2O3-CeO2-Bi2O3/γ-Al2O3 catalyst was investigated under mild operating conditions in a batch reactor. The catalyst was prepared by wet impregnation, and characterized by N2 adsorptiondesorption (BET measurement), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effect of the reaction conditions (catalyst loading, reaction temperature, solution concentration and initial solution pH) was studied. The Fe2O3-CeO2-Bi2O3/γ-Al2O3 catalyst exhibited good catalytic activity and stability in the CWAO of cationic red GTL under atmospheric pressure. When the reaction temperature, the solution concentration and the initial pH of the solution increased, the decolorization efficiency was improved. The apparent activation energy for the reaction was 79 kJ mol-1. Hydroperoxy radicals (HO2·) and superoxide radicals (O2· ) appeared as the main reactive species upon the CWAO of cationic red GTL.