The degradation of maleic acid with wet peroxide oxidation catalyzed by Al₂O₃-supported Cu catalyst: effect of inorganic ions

The alumina particle supported Cu component catalyst, Cu/Al₂O₃, was prepared by equal volume wet impregnation and evaluated through degradation of maleic acid with catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) in this work. It was found that the Cu/Al₂O₃ catalyst had an excellent CWPO performance. A total organic carbon (TOC) removal rate of 98% was reached under the optimized catalytic reaction conditions. Moreover, the effect of inorganic ions on CWPO was comprehensively evaluated using different acid and alkali. The alkali had an optimum effect on TOC removal rates, while acid had an inhibitory effect. A catalytic oxidation mechanism was proposed to illustrate the CWPO process of Cu/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The catalytic test results as well as the proposed mechanism can provide an insight into the influence mechanism of inorganic ions on CWPO.