Oxidation of Zhundong subbituminous coal by Fe2+/H2O2 system under mild conditions

Oxidation of coal under mild conditions is effective not only to understand the macromolecular network structure of coal but also to produce useful chemicals, allowing more efficient application of coal resources. In this work, the mild oxidation of Zhundong subbituminous coal (ZS) by Fe2+/H2O2 system was carried out under various conditions, including [Fe2+]/[H2O2] molar ratio, temperature, H2O2 concentration and oxidation time. The liquid oxidation products were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and the chemical structure changes were studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results suggest that the oxidation efficiency of ZS with H2O2 is enhanced with the aid of Fe2+. The optimum conditions were determined to be [Fe2+]/[H2O2] molar ratio of 0.00453, H2O2 concentration of 3mol/L, 60 oC and 4 h according to the oxidation conversion rate. In total, 25 compounds were identified, which could be categorized as six group components. Most of them are valuedadded chemicals, and the content of benzene carboxylic acids is the highest among them, making up 29.99% of all group components in total relative content (TRC). -CH2- should be primary bridge connecting the aromatic rings, and alkylene chains linking three aromatic rings are abundant in ZS.