Utilização de óxidos de ferro naturais e sintéticos na degradação de compostos orgânicos

Abstract

The conventional Fenton system, widely used in of effluents treatment, presents certain inconvenient points such as: (i) the acidification of reaction medium to values close to pH 3; (ii) further neutralization before discharging into water stream. As the main drawback is the working pH range, recent studies are focusing on solid phase catalysts. In this alternative perspective, the heterogeneous Fenton system can operate near to neutral pH, this fact dispense effluent acidification and neutralization, avoiding the sludge formation, besides of the possibility of recovering of the catalyst at the end of the process. The present work evaluate the effect of thermal treatment, under H2 flow, on the surface of limonite, natural iron oxide formed essentially by goethite (α-FeOOH), and the addition of organic acids in the heterogeneous Fenton system . The catalytic activity of the materials was evaluated by the oxidation of model organic molecule with environmental relevance. The reactions were monitored by UV-VIS spectroscopy and ESI-MS. The thermal treatment under H2 flow (350°C) for short periods (ten minutes) led to a formation of a composite of magnetite/Fe3+, on the other hand the treatment for 120 minutes led to a catalyst formed predominantly by Fe0/magnetite and small quantities of remaining Fe3+. Both treatment produce active materials, be able to of oxidize more than 80% of a 10 mg L-1 methylene blue solution after 240 minutes of reaction. The catalysts were active after three oxidation cycles and the catalytic activity was regenerated after a new thermal treatment. The catalysts also revealed to be efficient in the oxidation of nitrogen compound (quinoline).