Synthesis of Ni Supported Porous Cu Nanocatalyst for Wet Oxidation of Industrial Wastes
Industrial effluents containing high amount of organic impurities pose an increasing environmental threat. Copper is considered to be one of the most active transition metals for oxidative degradation of organic effluents. However, the use of Cu catalyst for oxidative processes is limited, since a large fraction of Cu leaches out into the effluents during the reaction, and hence resulting in Cu contamination beyond the permissible limits. We, herein, show our efforts towards the synthesis of highly porous Cu nanocatalyst, supported on Ni foil by a simple galvanic replacement reaction. Due to the presence of high porosity and surface defects, Cu/Ni nanocatalyst is highly active even under neutral pH conditions, which assists in reducing the Cu leaching to a greater extent. The detailed characterization of the Cu/Ni nanocatalyst has been performed using SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, BET and ICP-MS measurements and the activity of nanocatalyst has been explored in terms of catalytic wet oxidation of ferulic acid, a model lignin compound and industrial waste from paper and pulp industry. Moreover, the effect of varying amounts of Cu in Cu/Ni system as well as the reusability of the catalyst has also been investigated. We believe that these studies would pave a way towards the use of nanocatalysts for treatment of industrial wastes.