Oxidative degradation of phenol in aqueous medium catalyzed by lab prepared cobalt oxide

This work explores the preparation and characterization of cobalt oxide catalyst and investigation of its catalytic activities for oxidative degradation of phenol in aqueous medium. The catalyst was prepared by mechanochemical process in solid state at room temperature by reaction of Co(NO ₃) ₂.6H ₂O and NH ₄HCO ₃. The prepared catalyst was characterized by physical (surface area, particle size, XRD, SEM and FTIR analysis) and chemical (determination of oxygen content) techniques. The prepared cobalt oxide was used as catalyst for oxidative degradation of phenol in aqueous medium by taking 15 mL of 0.71 M phenol solution. The catalytic performance of cobalt oxide was explored in terms of effect of time, temperature and partial pressure of oxygen on degradation of phenol. The catalyst was separated from the reaction mixture by filtration. Langmuir- Hinshelwood type of mechanism was followed in the reaction where adsorption of phenol and oxygen at the surface of catalyst was taking place according to Freundlich model. Linear and nonlinear least square method of analysis was used for reaction kinetics.