Mild Temperature Oxidation of Phenol over Rare Earth Exchanged Aluminum Pillared Montmorillonites

Abstract

<p>Wastewater treatment and re-use of industrial process water are critical issues for the development<br />of human activities and environment conservation. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the degradation<br />of organic pollutants taking phenol as the model compound over aluminium pillared montmorillonite and the<br />rare earth exchanged analogues, underlining the use of environ friendly clay catalysts for the effective removal<br />of water pollutants. From the study it was noted that for reaction variables like temperature, peroxide load,<br />catalyst load, phenol concentration etc, optimal values exist that must be taken into account for obtaining best<br />results. The catalysts used were aluminium pillared montmorillonite prepared by partial hydrolysis method<br />exchanged with La, Ce and Th metal salts at room temperature. Characterisation of the prepared systems were<br />done using X-ray diffraction and surface area and pore volume measurements.The pillared montmorillonite<br />showed considerable increase in basal spacing and BET surface area compared to parent montmorillonite.</p>