Submit to Catalysts Review for Catalysts Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Catalytic Oxidation in Environmental Protection

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2018) | Viewed by 37456

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eleni Iliopoulou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Laboratory of Environmental Fuels and Hydrocarbons (LEFH) of the Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute (CPERI) at the Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH), Thermi, Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: catalytic abatement of atmospheric pollutants (NOx, SOx, CO, methane); heterogeneous catalysts synthesis; mesoporous materials; nanostructured metal oxides; zeolites; supported catalysts; structure/activity/selectivity relationships in catalysis; lignocellulosic waste biomass; valorization; biofuels; bio-lubricants, bio-commodities

Dr. Changsheng Su

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Cummins Emission Solutions, Cummins Inc., 301 Jackson Street, Columbus, IN 47201, USA
Interests: alternative fuels & emission; exhaust aftertreatment system design; applied environmental catalysis; De-NOx technologies; Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR); diesel oxidation catalyst; diesel soot oxidation; GHG (Green-House Gas) reduction; electrode catalysts for fuel cells; reactor design; emission control modeling and simulations; catalyst processing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As is well known, interest in different aspects of environmental catalysis has been steadily growing, in both academic and industrial sectors, and, thus, great efforts have been devoted worldwide to investigate the design, synthesis and application of novel multifunctional materials as oxidation catalysts for the removal of harmful pollutants, aiming to improve air and water quality. The first case refers to a plethora of major air pollutants emitted from various sources, such as CO, VOCs, ozone, particulate matter, other toxic air pollutants (including ammonia, benzene, dioxin, mercury, etc.), and, of course, greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide. Concerning the latter case, a large variety of research groups are devoted to the evaluation of new photocatalytic materials and the elimination of contaminants and pathogens in both aqueous and gaseous phases, while other additionally deal with water decontamination by processes, such as catalytic wet peroxide oxidation, Fenton-alike reactions and electrochemical oxidation.

The current Special Issue aspires to compile some of the most recent and forward-looking concepts related with all aspects of catalytic oxidation technology for environmental protection, ranging from design and synthesis, characterization, efficiency and deactivation of novel materials, as well as new pioneering concepts of catalytic processes, reaction kinetics and modelling/simulation of materials and reactions.

Dr. Eleni Iliopoulou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Pollution abatement (CO, VOCs, methane, ammonia, soot, etc.)
wet-oxidation
photo- and electrocatalysis

Published Papers (7 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

18 pages, 3980 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Simulating Real World Soot-Catalyst Contact Conditions for Lab-Scale Catalytic Soot Oxidation Studies

by Changsheng Su, Yujun Wang, Ashok Kumar and Paul J. McGinn

Catalysts 2018, 8(6), 247; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal8060247 - 14 Jun 2018

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 6892

Abstract

In diesel soot oxidation studies, both well-defined model soot and a reliable means to simulate realistic contact conditions with catalysts are crucial. This study is the first attempt in the field to establish a lab-scale continuous flame soot deposition method in simulating the “contact condition” of soot and a structured diesel particulate filter (DPF) catalyst. The properties of this flame soot were examined by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for structure analysis, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) for surface area analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for reactivity and kinetics analysis. For validation purposes, catalytic oxidation of Tiki^® soot using the simulated contact condition was conducted to compare with the diesel particulates collected from a real diesel engine exhaust system. It was found that the flame soot is more uniform and controllable than similar samples of collected diesel particulates. The change in T₅₀ due to the presence of the catalyst is very similar in both cases, implying that the flame deposit method is able to produce comparably realistic contact conditions to that resulting from the real exhaust system. Comparing against the expensive engine testing, this novel method allows researchers to quickly set up a procedure in the laboratory scale to reveal the catalytic soot oxidation properties in a comparable loose contact condition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Oxidation in Environmental Protection)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

12 pages, 4686 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Catalytic Ozonation of Toluene Using Chilean Natural Zeolite: The Key Role of Brønsted and Lewis Acid Sites

by Serguei Alejandro-Martín, Héctor Valdés, Marie-Hélène Manero and Claudio A. Zaror

Catalysts 2018, 8(5), 211; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal8050211 - 17 May 2018

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4065

Abstract

The influence of surface physical-chemical characteristics of Chilean natural zeolite on the catalytic ozonation of toluene is presented in this article. Surface characteristics of natural zeolite were modified by acid treatment with hydrochloric acid and ion-exchange with ammonium sulphate. Prior to catalytic ozonation assays, natural and chemically modified zeolite samples were thermally treated at 623 and 823 K in order to enhance Brønsted and Lewis acid sites formation, respectively. Natural and modified zeolite samples were characterised by N₂ adsorption at 77 K, elemental analysis, X-ray fluorescence, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, using pyridine as a probe molecule. The highest values of the reaction rate of toluene oxidation were observed when NH4Z1 and 2NH4Z1 zeolite samples were used. Those samples registered the highest density values of Lewis acid sites compared to other samples used here. Results indicate that the presence of strong Lewis acid sites at the 2NH4Z1 zeolite surface causes an increase in the reaction rate of toluene oxidation, confirming the role of Lewis acid sites during the catalytic ozonation of toluene at room temperature. Lewis acid sites decompose gaseous ozone into atomic oxygen, which reacts with the adsorbed toluene at Brønsted acid sites. On the other hand, no significant contribution of Brønsted acid sites on the reaction rate was registered when NH4Z1 and 2NH4Z1 zeolite samples were used. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Oxidation in Environmental Protection)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 2663 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fe Oxides Loaded on Carbon Cloth by Hydrothermal Process as an Effective and Reusable Heterogenous Fenton Catalyst

by Honghui Yang, Bofang Shi and Silan Wang

Catalysts 2018, 8(5), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal8050207 - 15 May 2018

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5205

Abstract

Iron based heterogeneous Fenton catalysts are attracting much attention for its economic and environmental friendly characteristics. In this study, iron oxides loaded carbon cloth (assigned as Fe@CC) was prepared using hydrothermal hydrolysis of Fe(NO₃)₃. The specific surface area of Fe@CC determined by N₂ adsorption–desorption Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method was up to 1325.5 m²/g, which increased by 81.8% compared with that of native carbon cloth mainly due to the loading of iron oxide. XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) spectra confirmed that the iron oxide on the carbon surface included mainly FeOOH. Its heterogeneous Fenton-like activity was determined using Acid Red G as a model substrate for degradation. Fe@CC maintained high and relatively stable activity during 11 tests, and it showed high COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) removal efficiency and high apparent H₂O₂ utilization efficiency. The homogeneous Fenton reaction using the amount of leached Fe(III) suggested that the surficial reaction on Fe@CC was dominant. The stability and the mechanism for gradual decrease of activity during the first 4 tests were also discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Oxidation in Environmental Protection)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 13504 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Preparation of RGO-P25 Nanocomposites for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Ammonia in Livestock Farms

by Shihua Pu, Dingbiao Long, Zuohua Liu, Feiyun Yang and Jiaming Zhu

Catalysts 2018, 8(5), 189; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal8050189 - 03 May 2018

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3509

Abstract

In this paper, the Hummer’s method was used to prepare the compound catalyst of reduced graphene and TiO₂ (RGO-P25), and the sand core plate was used as the carrier to provide the theoretical basis for the application of animal environmental purification by exploring the degradation of ammonia in RGO-P25. Characterization results show that the band gap of P25 is reduced from 3.14 eV to 2.96 eV after the combination of RGO, and the recombination rate of the photogenerated electrons and holes also decreased significantly, both resulting in the improvement of ammonia degradation by composite catalysts. Experimental results show that the carrier (sand core plate) and RGO-P25 are effectively stabilized with Si–O–Ti, but the blank core plate carrier could not degrade the ammonia, and its adsorption is not obvious, only 5% ± 1%, under 300 W ultraviolet lamp irradiation, the degradation rates of P25, RGO and RGO-P25 for ammonia at initial concentrations of 119–124 ppm were 72.25%, 81.66% and 93.64%, respectively. P25 dispersed through RGO can effectively adsorb ammonia on the surface to provide a reaction environment and thereby improve its photocatalytic efficiency, thus, endowing the RGO-P25 composites with higher photocatalytic degradation performance than RGO or P25 individually. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Oxidation in Environmental Protection)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 3912 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wood-Biochar-Supported Magnetite Nanoparticles for Remediation of PAH-Contaminated Estuary Sediment

by Cheng-Di Dong, Chiu-Wen Chen, Chih-Ming Kao, Chuan-Chi Chien and Chang-Mao Hung

Catalysts 2018, 8(2), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal8020073 - 09 Feb 2018

Cited by 83 | Viewed by 5849

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the ability of a magnetic wood biochar (WB)-based composite catalyst (Fe₃O₄–WB) to catalyze sodium persulfate (PS) for the remediation of estuary sediment contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The effects of various critical parameters, including the catalyst dose and initial pH, were investigated. The degradation of the PAHs was found to be related to the number of rings in their structure. The results showed that Fe₃O₄–WB is an efficient catalyst for the removal of high-ring PAHs (HPAHs), with the highest degradation rates for the 6-, 5-, and 4-ringed PAHs being 90%, 84%, and 87%, respectively, for a PS concentration of 2 × 10⁻⁵ M, catalyst concentration of 3.33 g/L, and pH of 3.0. That the reduction rate of the HPAHs was greater than that of the low-ring PAHs can be attributed to the strong affinity of the HPAHs for biochar derived from wood biomass. Overall, this study revealed that the WB-mediated electron transfer catalysis of the surface functional groups in a wide range of pH in the Fe₃O₄–WB/PS system and potentially application in the remediation of sediments contaminated with PAHs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Oxidation in Environmental Protection)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

12065 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Removal of NO_X Using Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor over Fe/TiO₂ Catalysts and an Absorption Technique

by Lei Chen, Yuxin Li, Qinxin Zhao, Yungang Wang, Zhiyuan Liang and Qiang Lu

Catalysts 2017, 7(12), 386; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal7120386 - 13 Dec 2017

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5529

Abstract

In this study, we proposed an innovative oxidation–absorption method for low-temperature denitrification (160–240 °C), in which NO is initially catalytically oxidized by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) vapor over titania-based catalysts, and the oxidation products are then absorbed by NaOH solution. The effects of flue gas temperature, molar H₂O₂/NO ratio, gas hourly space velocity (GHSV), and Fe substitution amounts of Fe/TiO₂ catalysts on the denitrification efficiency were investigated by a well-designed experiment. The results indicated that the Fe/TiO₂ catalyst exhibited a combination of remarkable activity and deep oxidation ability (NO converted into harmless NO₃⁻). In order to comprehend the functional mechanism of the Fe dopant’s local environment in TiO₂ support, the promotional effect of the calcination temperature of Fe/TiO₂ on the denitration performance was also studied. A tentative synergetic mechanism could be interpreted from two aspects: (1) Fe³⁺ as a substitute of Ti⁴⁺, leading to the formation of enriched oxygen vacancies at the surface, could significantly improve the adsorption efficiency of •OH; (2) the isolated surface Fe ion holds a strong adsorption affinity for NO, such that the adsorbed NO could be easily oxidized by the pre-formed •OH. This process offers a promising alternative for current denitrification technology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Oxidation in Environmental Protection)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

4037 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Preparation Method on the Structure and Catalytic Activity of Ag–Fe₂O₃ Catalysts Derived from MOFs

by Xiaodong Zhang, Yang Yang, Xutian Lv, Yuxin Wang and Lifeng Cui

Catalysts 2017, 7(12), 382; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal7120382 - 09 Dec 2017

Cited by 49 | Viewed by 5323

Abstract

In this work, Ag–Fe₂O₃ catalysts were successfully prepared using several different methods. Our main intention was to investigate the effect of the preparation methods on the catalysts’ structure and their catalytic performance for CO oxidation. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂ adsorption–desorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), H₂-temperature program reduction (H₂-TPR) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Ag–Fe catalysts prepared by impregnating Ag into MIL-100 (Fe) presented the best catalytic activity, over which CO could be completely oxidized at 160 °C. Based on the characterization, it was found that more metallic Ag species and porosity existed on Ag–Fe catalysts, which could efficiently absorb atmospheric oxygen and, thus, enhance the CO oxidation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Oxidation in Environmental Protection)

► Show Figures