II International Symposium on Carbon for Catalysis ABSTRACTS

PP-<strong>II</strong>-2
ACTIVATED CARBON AS CATALYST. EFFECT OF THERMAL TREATMENT ON
ITS CATALYTIC PROPERTIES FOR CWAO
Baricot M., Fortuny A. 1 , Fabregat A., Stüber F., Bengoa C., Font J.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Av. Països Catalans, 26,
Campus Sescelades, 43007, Tarragona, Catalunya, Spain
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona,
Catalunya, Spain
e-mail: maretva.baricot@urv.net
Activated carbon (AC) is a versatile material that typically has been used as adsorbent,
but lately certain applications as catalyst have been found. Stüber et al. [1] achieved up to
99% of phenol removal in a slurry reactor, at 160 ºC and 0.7 MPa of oxygen partial pressure,
whereas Fortuny et al. [2] obtained 68 % of phenol removal in a fixed bed reactor, at 140ºC
and 0.9 MPa of oxygen partial pressure, operating at trickle flow regime, both using a
commercial AC as catalyst. Pereira et al. [3] also used a commercial activated carbon as
catalyst in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene. However, there is no fully
understanding of the characteristics that give catalytic activity to this material. Several
researchers have made modifications on certain properties of AC by oxidation in liquid and
gas phase. Also thermal treatments in inert atmosphere can be done in order to change its
surface chemistry. These surface modifications affect the performance of the activated carbon
in their applications. For instance, the adsorption of aromatic compounds can be improved by
eliminating oxygen groups from the surface. Regarding to the catalytic activity, Pereira et al
[3] found the increase of the amount of carbonyl/quinone groups in the AC surface improves
its catalytic activity in the deoxyhydrogenation reaction. In the present study, a commercial
AC, with proven catalytic activity for wet oxidation of phenol, was characterised and
thermally modified at different temperatures (400, 700 and 900ºC) in order to selectively
remove oxygen groups, so that the surface functional groups owning the catalytic activity
could be identified. The behaviour of the modified samples was tested for phenol adsorption,
and its catalytic performance for phenol CWAO was evaluated in a trickle bed reactor, at
140ºC and 0.2 MPa of oxygen partial pressure. Also thermal treated samples were checked for
the decomposition of H 2 O 2 –according to the procedure described by Khalil et al [4].
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