Xiuqin Dongab,
Ya’nan Zhangab,
Yongwei Xuab and
Minhua Zhang*ab
aKey Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, R&D Center for Petrochemical Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
bCollaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin 300072, China. E-mail: mhzhang@tju.edu.cn; Fax: +86-22-27406119; Tel: +86-22-27406119
First published on 18th May 2015
Among all the transition metal oxides, MnO2, which exhibits stable performance in supercritical water oxidation (SCWO), has a relatively high catalytic activity in the catalytic decomposition of organic compounds by oxidation. Hence, for some organics that are difficult to degrade, MnO2 is a commonly used catalyst. However, the mechanism of the catalytic oxidation of organic compounds by a manganese oxide catalyst is not very clear. In this study, the catalytic mechanism of manganese oxide in the supercritical water oxidation of nitrobenzene was discussed via TG-MS, XRD, activity tests and product analysis. In the process of supercritical water oxidation, the catalyst exists in a mixed MnO2–Mn2O3 state, in the role of an electron relay that promotes the generation of strong oxidizing agents (˙OH, O*) and the catalytic oxidation of nitrobenzene.
Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) is a powerful technology used to eliminate a wide range of problematic wastes from a wide variety of chemical industries.15–18 Supercritical water (SCW) is a unique medium above the thermodynamic critical point (374 °C, 221 bar).19,20 When exceeding its critical point, the density, dielectric constant and ionic product of water decrease. Supercritical water acts as a non-polar solvent of high diffusivity and excellent transport properties.21–23 During the SCWO process, the organic compounds react completely with the oxidant—mostly oxygen—in a single-phase reaction, forming CO2 and H2O without secondary pollution and with a removal rate above 99%.24
The addition of catalyst not only alleviates the strict requirements with less investment by reducing the temperature and pressure of the reaction, but also increases the reaction rate. The reaction proceeds with a short residence time. The catalyst increases the wastewater treatment capacity of the unit volume reactor and reduces the cost of wastewater treatment.25,26 For some refractory organic wastewater whose emission requirement is strict, catalytic supercritical water oxidation technology is very green and promising. High demands are placed on the physical and chemical properties of the catalyst stability as a result of high temperature, high pressure and strong oxidizing atmosphere in the supercritical water oxidation system. In this research system, MnO2 is proposed as the catalyst because of its high catalytic oxidation activity for organics and its good stability with low solubility in supercritical water.27 Yu and Savage found that bulk MnO2 is an active catalyst for the oxidation of acetic acid under supercritical conditions. It reduces the required reactor volume for treatment by more than 2 orders of magnitude.28 They also used bulk MnO2 as a catalyst for phenol oxidation in supercritical water at 380–420 °C and 219–300 atm. in a flow reactor. The bulk MnO2 catalyst enhances both the phenol removal and CO2 formation rates during supercritical water oxidation (SCWO). The catalytic mechanisms of MnO2 have been studied. The role of the catalyst appears to be to accelerate the formation rate of phenoxy radicals, which then react in the fluid phase by the same mechanism as the non-catalytic SCWO of phenol.29 In the process of formaldehyde adsorption, the surface active groups of O2− and ˙OH radicals of the manganese dioxide oxidize formaldehyde to yield carbon dioxide and water, but the generated water may continue to dissociate into ˙OH free radicals which are involved in the oxidation of formaldehyde.30
The goal of this study was to assess the performance of SCWO for nitrobenzene decomposition. More specifically, the catalytic mechanisms of manganese oxide in the process of nitrobenzene decomposition in supercritical water were investigated.
| Compound | Chemical formula | Specification | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manganese dioxide | MnO2 | AR | Tianjin Damao Chemical Reagent Factory |
| Methyl cellulose | [C6H7O2(OCH3)3]n | AR | Tianjin University Kewei Company |
| Nitrobenzene | C6H5NO2 | AR | Tianjin University Kewei Company |
Combined with the investigation results of the catalyst and its usage requirements, adding the proper amount of methyl cellulose can facilitate the forming process of the catalyst. In addition, as a pore forming agent, its decomposition increases the catalyst pore volume and the specific surface area after calcination. The optimum preparation conditions were as follows: 600 MPa molding pressure, 1.5 wt% agglutinating agent content, drying for 1 hour at 120 °C and calcination for 2 hours at 500 °C.
In the experimental process, the liquid feed flow is automatically controlled by the plunger pump while the gas flow rate can be adjusted through the compressor entrance pressure and outlet circulating pipeline. A compressor with frequency modulation power is supplied for the gas regulator. The pressure of the system is controlled by the backpressure valve. Under normal circumstances, the system pressure fluctuates within the range of ±0.2 MPa.
| Column | Zorbax SB-C18 column, 4.6 × 250 mm, 5 μm |
| The column temperature | 30 °C |
| Mobile phase | Acetonitrile–water (20/80) |
| Sample size | 1 μL |
| Detector | Diode array detector |
| Detector wavelength | 262 nm |
A 10 mL sample was extracted with 30 mL CH2Cl2 three times. The extracted liquid was separated using a separating funnel, heated in water bath at 40 °C and concentrated to about 1 mL. Analysis of the concentrated solution was conducted with a GC-MSD. The specific chromatographic conditions are shown in Table 3.
| Column | HP-5ms |
| Sample size | 1 μL |
| The split ratio | 100 : 1 |
| Inlet temperature | 280 °C |
| Transmission line | 280 °C |
| The column temperature box | 90 °C for 1 min, to 270 °C at 15 °C min−1, to 270 °C for 5 min |
| The ion source | 230 °C |
| Four rod | 150 °C |
| Scanning range | 10–500 amu |
In order to study the phase change process of MnO2 with temperature, TG-MS experiments were performed under air and nitrogen atmosphere. The experimental results are shown in Fig. 2 and 3.
As shown in Fig. 2, the TG curve slowly declines in air below a temperature of 500 °C and a significant change can be observed in the temperature range of 500–570 °C. The sample had significant weight loss in the temperature range of 500–570 °C, and correspondingly the mass spectrometer detected an O2 ion peak. According to the analysis of the XRD pattern of the catalyst after calcination in air at a temperature of 550 °C, the catalyst was Mn2O3. The standard JCPDS numbers of MnO2 and Mn2O3 are 24-0735 and 41-1442, respectively. The XRD pattern of the catalyst is shown in Fig. 4.
It suggested that in the temperature ranging from 500 °C to 570 °C, the phase transformation process shown in eqn (1) occurred.
| MnO2 → Mn2O3 + O2 | (1) |
With reference to the corresponding temperature of the oxygen ion peak in the mass spectrometric detection, the phase transition temperature was 539 °C. The sample weight loss rate was 11.23% in the temperature range from 30 °C to 570 °C, which is slightly higher than the temperature at which MnO2 completely changed into Mn2O3 (9.20%). The high weight loss rate may be caused by the gas adsorption or water desorption of the sample.
In Fig. 3, the TG curve slowly decreases under nitrogen atmosphere at temperatures up to 450 °C, while weight is lost more obviously in the temperature range from 450 °C to 620 °C. There is an inflection point on the TG curve and the weight loss rates are different before and after the point, and correspondingly, two obvious O2 ions peaks were detected by MS in this temperature range and the highest peaks of the corresponding temperatures were at 514 °C and 567 °C. The sample weight loss rate was 10.60% in the temperature ranging from 30 °C to 545 °C, which was slightly higher than the temperature at which MnO2 completely turned into Mn2O3. The relatively high weight loss rate may be caused by the gas adsorption or water desorption of the sample. This shows that a MnO2 phase change occurred and generated Mn2O3 in this temperature range. In the temperature range from 545 °C to 620 °C, further weight loss of the sample may brought about by a further complex change of Mn2O3. It is thought that the peak at 567 °C is caused by the transformation from Mn2O3 to Mn3O4. MnO2, in air under 535 °C, can be converted to Mn2O3 and totally turned into Mn3O4 after the temperature further increases to 1000 °C.32 It is easier to obtain Mn3O4 when heating with lower oxygen concentration and higher temperature.33–36 Thus, the transformation of Mn3O4 occurs more facilely under nitrogen atmosphere than in the air, which is reasonable for explaining why there is only one peak in the air while there are two peaks under nitrogen.
Comparison between the experimental results of the MnO2 TG-MS under different atmospheres indicates that MnO2 undergoes a phase change with increasing temperature that is related to the oxygen partial pressure in the atmosphere. The temperature for the phase change of MnO2 becomes higher with increasing oxygen partial pressure.
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| Fig. 5 (a) X-ray diffraction pattern for fresh MnO2 after reaction. (b) X-ray diffraction pattern for fresh Mn2O3 after reaction. (c) The standard pattern of MnO2. (d) The standard pattern of Mn2O3. | ||
The experimental results indicate that the Mn2O3 and MnO2 catalysts exist in a mixed MnO2–Mn2O3 state after reaction. This shows that at 440 °C, both MnO2 and Mn2O3 mutually transformed into each other so that the two kinds of catalyst achieved the same phase state during the reaction process.
In addition, Mn2O3 transformed into the mixed MnO2–Mn2O3 state after the catalytic oxidation of nitrobenzene at 440 °C, which indicates that in the studied system Mn2O3 can participate in the change shown in eqn (2).
| Mn2O3 + O2 → MnO2 | (2) |
| Nitrobenzene degradation (%) | Nitrobenzene/mg L−1 | TOC/mg L−1 |
|---|---|---|
| 99.66 | 2.7 | 5.3 |
As we can see from the results, the catalyst has great catalytic efficiency, giving a high level of mineralization of organic molecules.
The time on stream data shows that the degradation is maintained over time and no significant deactivation can be observed, so the re-generation of the catalyst has not been studied. The research will be the key point of the next study.
In other literature, the MnO2 stability is also reported. Bulk MnO2 is a good catalyst for complete oxidation because it combines high activity, hydrothermal stability, activity maintenance, and resistance to metal leaching under the reaction conditions.44,45
| Initial phase of catalyst | MnO2 | Mn2O3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reaction temperature (°C) | 400 | 440 | 400 | 440 |
| Nitrobenzene degradation (%) | 65.59 | 97.76 | 74.83 | 97.43 |
The experimental results show that at 400 °C, the Mn2O3 activity towards the catalytic oxidation of nitrobenzene is much higher than that of MnO2, but is of similar catalytic activity at 440 °C.
At 400 °C, the activity of Mn2O3 is better than that of MnO2. However, at 440 °C, in the MnO2 and Mn2O3 catalyzed oxidation decomposition of nitrobenzene, the catalysts exist in the mixed MnO2–Mn2O3 state after reaction and the contents of the two catalysts are fairly close because of mutual conversion. Thus, at 440 °C, the activity of Mn2O3 is similar to that of MnO2.
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| Fig. 8 (a) The chromatogram for SCWO of nitrobenzene. (b) The mass spectrum of nitrobenzene. (c) The mass spectrum of aniline. (d) The mass spectrum of hydroquinone. | ||
The GC-MS data for the SCWO of nitrobenzene is shown in Fig. 8. As the concentration of intermediate products in the final liquid products was much lower than that of nitrobenzene, the peak of nitrobenzene cannot be seen completely. Aniline and hydroquinone can be found in the products, besides NPs and 1,3-dinitrobenzene, in the SCWO of nitrobenzene without catalyst.
The intermediate products, which include o-, m-, p-nitrophenol (NPs) and m-dinitrobenzene, are almost identical between the SCWO and the catalytic supercritical water oxidation (CSCWO), according to Fig. 7 and 8. However, aniline and hydroquinone can be found in the reaction without catalyst. The results of the SCWO are in good agreement with those of Lee and Park.31
The fact that aniline and hydroquinone can be found in the product of SCWO proved that nitrobenzene has oxidative ability for oxidizing organic compounds. In addition, the nitrobenzene is reduced to amine. On the other hand, in supercritical water the catalyst has a stronger oxidative ability because of the different oxidation mechanisms, so the phenol is oxidized and can no longer be detected. According to other literature,46 phenols can be oxidized more easily than nitro-compounds in supercritical water.
The fact that NPs and m-dinitrobenzene can be detected in the intermediate products can prove that the nitrobenzene was converted to NPs because of de-ethylation and hydroxylation processes. A portion of the NPs were turned into phenol and ˙NO2. The ˙NO2 reacted with other organics to form such nitro-compound as m-dinitrobenzene, or was mineralized. Then the phenol and nitro-compounds were oxidized into inorganic compounds.
The benzene ring has a stable structure, so the de-ethylation and hydroxylation of organics with benzene rings becomes the rate-limiting step of SCWO. As a result, lots of NPs and organics produced by pyrolysis from NPs like phenols and dinitrobenzene can exist in the oxidation process.
Yang47 found that at the reaction temperature of 400 °C, the mixed catalyst state mainly consists of MnO2. As we can see in Fig. 7 and 8, a lot of phenols exist in the nitrobenzene products, which suggests that a hydroxyl radical oxidation mechanism may play a dominant role in the MnO2 catalysis.
Based on the cracking-free radical oxidation mechanism of the supercritical water oxidation process proposed by Yang48 and Ding,49 and research on the characteristics of manganese oxide combined with the results of this study, the following catalytic oxidation mechanism is proposed, as is shown in eqn (3)–(13).
First, under supercritical conditions, the water splits:
| H2O → ˙H + ˙OH | (3) |
Because of the strong oxidizing ability of MnO2 on the surface of the catalyst, the ˙H produced by homolytic cleavage interact with MnO2.50
| MnO2 + ˙H → MnOOH | (4) |
As is shown in eqn (3), ˙OH free radicals with strong electron withdrawing ability (568 kJ mol−1),51 which interact with the H of weak C–H bonds in organics (RH), are generated in the system. Organics (RH) lose H and form a hydrocarbon radical R˙, as is shown in eqn (5).
| RH + ˙OH → R˙ + H2O | (5) |
MnOOH is unstable and quickly decomposes,52 as is shown in eqn (6).
| 2MnOOH → Mn2O3 + H2O | (6) |
Mn2O3, produced by this decomposition, rapidly interacts with oxygen resulting in surface adsorption in the oxygen-rich environment. The adsorbed oxygen dissociates and produces oxygen anions (O2−or O−)53 (eqn (7) and (8)).
| Mn2O3 + O2 → [O2⋯Mn2O3]a | (7) |
| [O2⋯Mn2O3]a → [Oδ−2⋯Mn+δ2O3]d | (8) |
The dissociated oxygen anions have strong oxidation ability, interacting with the R˙ generated in eqn (5), and R˙ is oxidized to a peroxide free radical. The latter further acquires an H atom to form peroxide (eqn (9) and (10)).
| R˙ + [Oδ−2⋯Mn+δ2O3]d → ROO˙ + Mn2O3 | (9) |
| ROO˙ + RH → ROOH + R˙ | (10) |
The generated peroxide is unstable and rapidly breaks up into small molecule organics which are oxidized and eventually converted into CO2, H2O and N2.
Some of the oxygen in the adsorbed state continues to diffuse inward and interact with Mn2O3 to form MnO2, as is shown in eqn (11).
| [Oδ−2⋯Mn+δ2O3]d → MnO2 | (11) |
Under the effect of ˙OH, the R˙ generated in eqn (5) and (10) undergoes hydroxylation to generate phenols, as is shown in eqn (12).
| R˙ + ˙OH → R-OH | (12) |
The phenols continue to be oxidized and are eventually transformed into CO2 and H2O.
From the above catalytic process, the different valence states of the manganese compounds have the equilibrium relationship shown in eqn (13).
| MnO2 + H2O → MnOOH → Mn2O3 + O2 → MnO2 | (13) |
The reaction of Mn2O3 and O2, forming MnO2, is influenced by the oxygen concentration and temperature. The higher the oxygen concentration and the lower the temperature are, the more conducive it is to the formation of MnO2. On the contrary, the lower the oxygen concentration and the higher the temperature are, the slower the generation rate of MnO2 is. Mn2O3 gradually forms as the reaction proceeds. This is a reasonable explanation for the experimental phenomena in Section 3.1.2, that in the MnO2 and Mn2O3 catalyzed oxidation decomposition of nitrobenzene the catalysts exist in a mixed MnO2–Mn2O3 state after reaction.
| MnO2 + H2O → MnOOH + ˙OH | (14) |
With low temperature and high oxygen partial pressure, the reaction shown in eqn (11) proceeds rapidly. When the catalyst is mainly MnO2, the hydroxyl radical oxidation mechanism is dominant. On the contrary, when the temperature is high and oxygen partial pressure is low, the reaction shown in eqn (11) occurs relatively slowly, which is the rate-limiting step of the conversion of Mn2O3 to MnO2. Therefore, the content of Mn2O3 is high in the equilibrium phase of MnO2–Mn2O3 and the oxygen anion oxidation mechanism is dominant. As the electron relay, the role of MnO2 and Mn2O3 is to promote the generation of strong oxidizing agents (˙OH or O*) and the catalytic oxidation of nitrobenzene.
Footnote |
| † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5ra04322k |
| This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015 |