Photodegradation kinetics and halogens release of the emerging concern pollutants dexamethasone and S-metolachlor on TiO2/rGO composites

This work studies the photocatalytic degradation of solutions containing 0.11 mM of a glucocorticoid (dexamethasone, DEX) and 0.11 mM of an herbicide (S-metolachlor, MTLC), organohalogenated compounds containing fluorine and chlorine atoms in their molecules, respectively. To treat 1 L volume, a mass of 0.5 g of TiO2/rGO composite in suspension has been used as photocatalyst, irradiated with UV-A LEDs with 200 W m-2 of irradiance. MTLC is partially adsorbed on the surface of the catalyst, while DEX is not adsorbed, showing different degradation kinetics. The halogen ions released into the solution from the breakage of the parent molecules, F- and Cl- respectively, were analysed. In the case of MTLC, the released Cl- followed two different kinetic trends, being faster, and with a rate that matched the rate of MTLC disappearance, the part corresponding to non-adsorbed MTLC. In the experiments with DEX solutions a different behaviour was observed; the released F- in the photocatalytic degradation was partially adsorbed on the catalyst surface, but the adsorption capacity decreased with the use of the photocatalyst in consecutive cycles until the solubilised F- matched the degraded concentration of DEX. Furthermore, the mass balance between the degraded contaminant and the solubilised halogen anion, for both contaminants, allowed to conclude the absence of halogenated intermediates under the final operating conditions, that is a remarkable outcome in water remediation processes.

Synthesis and Structure-Activity Characterization of a Single-Site MoO2 Catalytic Center Anchored on Reduced Graphene Oxide

Molecularly derived single-site heterogeneous catalysts can bridge the understanding and performance gaps between conventional homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, guiding the rational design of next-generation catalysts. While impressive advances have been made with well-defined oxide supports, the structural complexity of other supports and the nature of the grafted surface species present an intriguing challenge. In this study, single-site Mo(═O)₂ species grafted onto reduced graphene oxide (rGO/MoO₂) are characterized by XPS, DRIFTS, powder XRD, N₂ physisorption, NH₃-TPD, aqueous contact angle, active site poisoning assay, Mo EXAFS, model compound single-crystal XRD, DFT, and catalytic performance. NH₃-TPD reveals that the anchored MoO₂ moiety is not strongly acidic, while Mo 3d_5/2 XPS assigns the oxidation state as Mo(VI), and XRD shows little rGO periodicity change on MoO₂ grafting. Contact angle analysis shows that MoO₂ grafting consumes rGO surface polar groups, yielding a more hydrophobic surface. The rGO/MoO₂ DRIFTS assigns features at 959 and 927 cm^-1 to the symmetric and antisymmetric Mo═O stretching modes, respectively, of an isolated cis-(O═Mo═O) moiety, in agreement with DFT computation. Moreover, the Mo EXAFS rGO/MoO₂ structural data are consistent with isolated (C-O)₂-Mo(═O)₂ species having two Mo═O bonds and two Mo-O bonds at distances of 1.69(3) and 1.90(3) Å, respectively. rGO/MoO₂ is also more active than the previously reported AC/MoO₂ catalyst, with reductive carbonyl coupling TOFs approaching 1.81 × 10³ h^-1. rGO/MoO₂ is environmentally robust and multiply recyclable with 69 ± 2% of the Mo sites catalytically significant. Overall, rGO/MoO₂ is a structurally well-defined and versatile single-site Mo(VI) dioxo heterogeneous catalytic system.

Synthesis of Reduced Graphene Oxide as a Support for Nano Copper and Palladium/Copper Catalysts for Selective NO Reduction by CO

Copper and palladium/copper nanoparticles supported on reduced graphene oxide catalysts were synthesized and evaluated for the selective NO reduction by CO. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, TGA, XPS, TPR, in situ XRD, STEM, and HRTEM. The STEM and HRTEM results showed high metal oxide dispersions on the rGO. XPS results showed the presence of Cu and Pd oxide species. The reduction of copper supported on the rGO occurred in two steps for CuO _x /rGO_c, while that for CuO _x -PdO _y /rGO_c occurred in one step for temperatures lower than 350 °C. Noteworthy is that the in situ XRD results showed that the rGO structure was not affected after reduction at 350 °C. The in situ XRD of reduction revealed the appearance of new phases for copper during the reduction. The catalysts were evaluated in NO reduction by CO. The tests showed that the reduced catalysts presented high performance with NO conversions and N₂ selectivity above 85% at 350 °C.

Direct catalytic co-conversion of cellulose and methane to renewable petrochemicals

Direct catalytic co-aromatization of cellulose and methane to renewable petrochemicals over supported Zn catalysts.