Turning precious metal-loaded e-waste to useful catalysts: Investigation into supercilious recovery and catalyst viability for peroxymonosulfate activation

Shuo Li; Shafqat Ali; Zareen Zuhra; Yasir Abbas; Guanqun Xie; Xiaoxia Wang; Shujiang Ding

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139170

Turning precious metal-loaded e-waste to useful catalysts: Investigation into supercilious recovery and catalyst viability for peroxymonosulfate activation

Chemosphere. 2023 Sep:336:139170. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139170. Epub 2023 Jun 10.

Authors

Shuo Li¹, Shafqat Ali², Zareen Zuhra², Yasir Abbas³, Guanqun Xie⁴, Xiaoxia Wang⁵, Shujiang Ding⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, China; Xi'an Key Laboratory of Sustainable Energy Materials Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
² School of Environment and Civil Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, China.
³ School of Mechanical Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, China.
⁴ School of Environment and Civil Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, China. Electronic address: gqxie@dgut.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, China. Electronic address: wangxx@dgut.edu.cn.
⁶ Xi'an Key Laboratory of Sustainable Energy Materials Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.

PMID: 37307931
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139170

Abstract

Here, the key tasks to be accomplished are selective precious metal recovery from e-wastewater and their conversion into valuable catalysts for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. In this regard, we developed a hybrid material using 3D functional graphene foam and copper para-phenylenedithol (Cu-pPDT) MOF. The prepared hybrid showed a supercilious recovery of 92-95% even up to five cycles for Au(III) and Pd(II), which can be viewed as a reference for both the 2D graphene and the MOFs family. The outstanding performance has been attributed principally to the impact of diverse functionality as well as the unique morphology of 3D graphene foam, which provided a wide range of surface area and additional active sites in the hybrid frameworks. To prepare the surface-loaded metal nanoparticle catalysts, the sorbed samples recovered after precious metal extraction were calcined at 800 °C. The viability of the developed catalysts for the breakdown of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) via PMS activation was investigated. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) and experiments with radical scavengers suggest that sulfate and hydroxyl radicals are the main reactive species involved in the breakdown of 4-NP. This is because the active graphitic carbon matrix and the exposed precious metal and copper active sites work together in a way that is more effective.

Keywords: Catalyst; MOF hybrid; Mechanism; PMS activation; Precious metals.

MeSH terms

Copper
Electronic Waste*
Graphite* / chemistry
Metals
Peroxides / chemistry

Substances

peroxymonosulfate
Graphite
Copper
Peroxides
Metals