Catalytic reduction of water pollutants: knowledge gaps,lessons learned,and new opportunities

● Advances, challenges, and opportunities for catalytic water pollutant reduction. ● Cases of Pd-based catalysts for nitrate, chlorate, and perchlorate reduction. ● New functionalities developed by screening and design of catalytic metal sites. ● Facile catalyst preparation approaches for convenient catalyst optimization. ● Rational design and non-decorative effort are essential for future work. In this paper, we discuss the previous advances, current challenges, and future opportunities for the research of catalytic reduction of water pollutants. We present five case studies on the development of palladium-based catalysts for nitrate, chlorate, and perchlorate reduction with hydrogen gas under ambient conditions. We emphasize the realization of new functionalities through the screening and design of catalytic metal sites, including (i) platinum group metal (PGM) nanoparticles, (ii) the secondary metals for improving the reaction rate and product selectivity of nitrate reduction, (iii) oxygen-atom-transfer metal oxides for chlorate and perchlorate reduction, and (iv) ligand-enhanced coordination complexes for substantial activity enhancement. We also highlight the facile catalyst preparation approach that brought significant convenience to catalyst optimization. Based on our own studies, we then discuss directions of the catalyst research effort that are not immediately necessary or desirable, including (1) systematic study on the downstream aspects of under-developed catalysts, (2) random integration with hot concepts without a clear rationale, and (3) excessive and decorative experiments. We further address some general concerns regarding using H₂ and PGMs in the catalytic system. Finally, we recommend future catalyst development in both “fundamental” and “applied” aspects. The purpose of this perspective is to remove major misconceptions about reductive catalysis research and bring back significant innovations for both scientific advancements and engineering applications to benefit environmental protection.     

Efficient and recyclable palladium enriched magnetic nanocatalyst for reduction of toxic environmental pollutants

In this paper, highly stable, powerful, and recyclable magnetic nanoparticles tethered N-heterocyclic carbene-palladium(II) ((CH₃)₃[email protected]₃O₄) as magnetic nanocatalyst was successfully synthesized from a simplistic multistep synthesis under aerobic conditions through easily available low-cost chemicals. Newly synthesized (CH₃)₃[email protected]₃O₄ magnetic nanocatalyst was characterized from various analytical tools and catalytic potential of the (CH₃)₃[email protected]₃O₄ magnetic nanocatalyst was studied for the catalytic reduction of toxic 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), Methylene Blue (MB) and Methyl Orange (MO) at room temperature in aqueous media. UV-Visible spectroscopy was employed to monitor the reduction reactions. New (CH₃)₃[email protected]₃O₄ magnetic nanocatalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity for the reduction of toxic environmental pollutants. Moreover, (CH₃)₃[email protected]₃O₄ magnetic nanocatalyst could be easily and rapidly separated from the reaction mixture with the help of an external magnet and recycled minimum five times in reduction of 4-NP, MB, MO and four times in Cr(VI) without significant loss of catalytic potential and remains stable even after reuse.     

Self-catalytic pyrolysis thermodynamics of waste printed circuit boards with co-existing metals

● The co-existing metals in WPCBs has positive catalytic influence in pyrolysis. ● Cu, Fe, Ni can promote reaction progress and reduce the apparent activation energy. ● Ni play better role in promoting WPCB pyrolysis reaction. Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) are generated increasingly recent years with the rapid replacement of electric and electronic products. Pyrolysis is considered to be a potential environmentally-friendly technology for recovering organic and metal resources from WPCBs. Thermogravimetric analysis and kinetic analysis of WPCBs were carried out in this study. It showed that the co-existing metals (Cu, Fe, Ni) in WPCBs have positive self-catalytic influence during the pyrolysis process. To illustrate their catalytic effects, the apparent activation energy was calculated by differential model. Contributions of different reactions during catalytic pyrolysis process was studied and the mechanism function was obtained by Šesták-Berggren model. The results showed that Cu, Fe, Ni can promote the reaction progress and reduce the apparent activation energy. Among the three metals, Ni plays better catalytic role than Cu, then Fe. This work provides theoretical base for understanding the three metals’ catalytic influence during the pyrolysis of non-metal powders in WPCBs.