Efficient removal of bisphenol A from wastewaters : catalytic wet air oxidation with Pt catalysts supported on Ce and Ce–Ti mixed oxides

Catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) of an aqueous solution of bisphenol A (BPA) was investigated at 160 ℃ and 2.0 MPa of air in a batch reactor. Activity of supported platinum catalysts (2.5 wt%), prepared by wet impregnation, was compared with pure cerium and cerium–titanium oxide catalysts. Supported platinum catalysts showed higher activities in the removal of BPA than pure CeO 2 , Ce 0.8 Ti 0.2 O 2 and Ce 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 2 . The oxidation reaction was followed the pseudo-first order rate law and the highest BPA removal, 97% and 95%, was achieved with Pt/CeO 2 and Pt/Ce 0.8 Ti 0.2 O 2 catalysts respectively. The CWAO of BPA aqueous solution was not a surface area specific reaction but the more important factor affecting the activity of studied catalysts was the amount of chemisorbed oxygen of these samples.