Microwave Assisted and Per-

Sulphate Technology for Removal

of Pollutants from Wastewater
-19BCH068
-19BCH069
What Is AOP’s?

 Treatment technologies aimed at degrading and mineralizing recalcitrant organic matter

from wastewater through reaction with hydroxyl radical (•OH).
 Radiation
 Photolysis and photocatalysis
 Sonolysis
 Electrochemical oxidation technologies
 Fenton-based reactions
 Ozone-based processes etc.
 Why Microwave-assisted persulfate?

Persulfate Ion (Peroxydisulfate)

• Because SO4•− ( from activated persulfate (PS) and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) processes) has
superior oxidation potential (E0 = 2.5–3.1 V) than other oxidants, non ‐selective response to
organic pollutants, wide operational pH range and longer life time (30–40 μs).

• Microwave (MW) irradiation (frequency from 0.3 to 300 GHz) has also gained a significant
attention in environmental applications such as waste management and treatment including
pyrolysis, water/wastewater treatment.

• Transitional metal-based catalysts and dielectric nonmetal catalysts in the MW/PS system was
found to improve the oxidation efficiency of the system.
Brief Mechanism
 Mechanism explained
MW can produce SO4 •− from PS or PMS via thermal decomposition

S2O8 + MW  2SO4 •-- (Ea = 33.5kcal/mol)

HSO5-- + MW  SO4 •--

The h+ in Valence band (VB) and e− in Conduction band (CB) can be separated in
intrinsic catalysts (i.e. transitional metal oxides) through excitation due to MW
irradiation. Thus, formed e− -h+ pair reacts with PS, PMS, O2, and water to produce
various reactive oxygen species

Catalyst + MW  e- + h+

S2O82- + e-  SO4*- +SO4*-

HSO5 + e-  SO4*- + OH-

In addition, MW escalates the redox cycle of transitional metals
(Me) on the catalyst's surface, contributing to the SO4 •−
generation through electron donation

S2O8 + Men+  SO4*- + SO4*- + Me2(n+1)+

HSO5- + M en+  SO4*- + OH- + M e(n+1) +

Role of Catalyst

 To reduce the wastage of MW energy and simultaneously increase the reaction kinetics,
MW absorbing heterogeneous catalysts are being utilized based on dielectric loss and
magnetic loss.

 The addition of a catalyst would create high temperature reaction sites (hotspots) and aid in
the separation of electron hole pairs on the surfaces of intrinsic transitional metal and non-
metal catalysts, respectively, lowering the activation energy needed for the production of
SO4• and the oxidation of organic compounds.
 Proposed method(Overview)
• Wastewater (100 mL) was poured into a 250 mL round flask with
a set amount of K2S2O8 and the solution pH was adjusted to a set
value after the K2S2O8 dissolved.

• The flask was then placed in the MW reactor.

• After the reaction, the flask was removed and immediately placed
in ice water to end the reaction.

• The cooled contents were filtered before analyzing them for pH,
COD, color number (CN) and residual PS.
 References

https://
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211339822000
363

https://
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004565351932
3781