Generation of reactive chlorine species via molecular oxygen activation on a copper chloride loaded hydrothermal carbonaceous carbon for advanced oxidation process
Ningchao Zheng, Xi He, Quan Zhou, Ruilin Wang, Xinran Zhang, Ruiting Hu, Zhuofeng Hu
Abstract
In this study, we first achieve effective generation of reactive chlorine species (RCS) by molecular oxygen (O2) activation on a copper chloride loaded hydrothermal carbonaceous carbon (CuCl-HTCC). O2 can be adsorbed and activated by the cuprous (Cu(I)) from the CuCl-HTCC, and then converted into superoxide radical-hydrogen peroxide-hydroxyl radical, and chloride on the surface of CuCl-HTCC can be converted to RCS. This system holds two advantages: (1) plenty of Cu(I) exists in CuCl-HTCC can contribute to O2 activation heterogeneously. Its efficiency is much higher than that of homogeneous reactions in which Cu(I) cannot exist stably; (2) this process is a rapid heterogeneous process. Cu(I) can contribute to RCS generation with very fast kinetic through multi-steps. As a result, 10 mg/L of pollutants like phenol or ibuprofen were almost completely degraded in 120 min. This is a new and efficient method for generating RCS through the O2 activation process.