ABSTRACT
The effect of calcination temperature on Mn-Ce-O 70/30 characteristics, activity and stability was investigated when this catalyst was applied on the catalytic ozonation of a phenolic mixture. Two crystalline phases (cubic CeO2 and tetragonal Mn3O4) were observed by X-ray diffraction analysis, which also showed an increase of crystallinity with temperature. The material prepared at 300 ºC was the most efficient regarding TPh (100%), TOC (80%) and COD (62%) removal, as well as revealed to be the one leading to the lowest amount of Mn leached. The generalized kinetic model (GKM) was able to describe mineralization during this catalytic process with relative errors of ±10%.
Funding
The authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) by the financial support under the contract (PTDC/EQU-ERQ/113308/2009) and FEDER (Programa Operacional Factores de Competetividade COMPETE), Pest-C/Fis/U10036/2011. Rui C. Martins gratefully acknowledges FCT by the financial support under the contract FCT investigator 2014 Programme (IF/00215/2014) with financing from the European Social Fund and the Human Potential Operational Programme.