Spontaneous intra-electron transfer within rGO@Fe2O3-MnO catalyst promotes long-term NOx reduction at ambient conditions

Hafiz Muhammad Adeel Sharif; Muhammad Bilal Asif; Yuwei Wang; Ya-Nan Hou; Bo Yang; Xu Xiao; Changping Li

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129951

Spontaneous intra-electron transfer within rGO@Fe₂O₃-MnO catalyst promotes long-term NO_x reduction at ambient conditions

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Jan 5:441:129951. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129951. Epub 2022 Sep 8.

Authors

Hafiz Muhammad Adeel Sharif¹, Muhammad Bilal Asif², Yuwei Wang³, Ya-Nan Hou⁴, Bo Yang⁵, Xu Xiao⁶, Changping Li⁷

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Eco-Environmental Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, PR China; School of Electronic Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Film and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610054, PR China.
² Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center (AMPMC), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia.
³ Research Center for Eco-Environmental Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, PR China.
⁴ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science and Technology, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300384, PR China.
⁵ College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, PR China.
⁶ School of Electronic Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Film and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610054, PR China.
⁷ Research Center for Eco-Environmental Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, PR China. Electronic address: licpbit@hotmail.com.

PMID: 36115094
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129951

Abstract

Iron (Fe)-based catalysts are widely used for taming nitrogen oxides (NO_x) containing flue gas, but the regeneration and long-term reusability remains a concern. The reusability can be acquired by external additives, and resultantly can not only increase the cost but can also add to process complexity as well as secondary pollutants. Herein, a self-sustainable material is designed to regenerate the catalyst for long-term reusability without adding to process complexity. The catalyst is based on reduced graphene-oxide impregnated by Fe₂O₃-MnO (rGO@Fe₂O₃-MnO; G-F-M) for spontaneous intra electron (e^-)-transfer from Mn to Fe. The developed catalyst; G-M-F exhibited 93.7% NO_x reduction, which suggests its high catalytic activity. The morphological and structure characterizations confirmed the Fe/Mn loading, contributing to e^--transfer between Mn and Fe due to its conductivity. The synthesized G-F-M showed higher NO_x reduction about 2.5 folds, than rGO@Fe₂O₃ (G-FeO) and rGO@MnO_x (G-MnO_x). The performance of G-M-F without and with an electrochemical system was also compared, and the difference was only 5%, which is an evidence of the spontaneous e^- transfer between the Mn and Fe-NO_x complex. The designed catalyst can be used for a long time without external assistance, and its efficiency was not affected significantly (<3.7%) in the presence of high oxygen contents (8%). The as-prepared G-M-F catalyst has great potential for executing a dual role NOx removal and self-regeneration of catalyst (SRC), promoting a sustainable remediation approach for large-scale applications.

Keywords: NO(x) reduction; Reduced graphene oxide (rGO); Removal and regeneration; Spontaneous e(-) transportation, Fe-Mn oxide.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Electrons
Environmental Pollutants*
Graphite*
Iron / chemistry
Nitrogen Oxides / chemistry
Oxidation-Reduction
Oxides / chemistry
Oxygen

Substances

Environmental Pollutants
Nitrogen Oxides
Oxides
graphene oxide
Graphite
Iron
Oxygen