Synthesis, characterization and application of CuO-CeO2 nanocatalysts in wet air oxidation of industrial wastewater

Today, the removal of persistent organic pollutants from industrial wastewater stands a major challenge. Here we report the catalytic wet air oxidation of paper industry wastewater using CuO-CeO2 nanocatalysts. The catalysts were prepared by co-precipitation method without using any surfactant. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, FTIR, XPS, Raman, N-2-sorption, FE-SEM, TEM and EDX techniques. Characterization results revealed the formation of porous CuO-CeO2 nanocatalysts with high surface area, pore volume and oxygen vacancies. Interaction between copper and cerium greatly enhanced the catalyst activity, and the maximum removal of COD (67%), color (81%), AOX (61%), TOC (64%) and chlorophenolics (66%) was achieved with Ce40Cu60 nanocatalyst. The degradation of non-biodegradable compounds resulted in increased biodegradability index.