Enhanced electrochemical oxidation of phenol over manganese oxides under mild wet air oxidation conditions

Low-cost manganese oxide, MnOx-based electrocatalysts, containing α-MnO2 and mixed α-Mn2O3/α-MnO2 phases, were synthesized by scalable anodic and cathodic electrodeposition methods, respectively. Their morphological and chemical composition were characterized by means of Field Emission Scanning Electronic Microscopy (FESEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). These electrodes were tested for the electro-oxidation of a recalcitrant molecule (i.e. phenol) in a lab-scale high temperature and high pressure (HTHP) batch electrocatalytic reactor. Their electrocatalytic activity was compared with that of state-of-the-art anodes for phenol electro-oxidation: antimony-doped tin oxide (SnO2–Sb5+) and ruthenium oxide (RuO2): first, under standard ambient conditions, and then, under the conditions of a Polymeric Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer (i.e. 85 °C and 30 bar) and of mild Catalytic Wet Air Oxidation (CWAO, i.e. 150 °C and 30 bar). Both reaction time and current density were varied to investigate their effect in the performances of the system as well as on the reaction mechanism. Both MnOx electrodes reported enhanced conversion efficiencies, up to ∼75%, at the highest pressure and temperature, and at the lowest applied current density, which influenced the process by improving dissolution of the O2 evolved, the reaction kinetics and thermodynamics, and by minimizing irreversibilities, respectively. The here reported MnOx films achieved conversion and mineralization efficiencies comparable to Sb-SnO2 (that is the more toxic) and RuO2 (that is more expensive) materials, operating under mild CWAO operation conditions, which demonstrate the potential of the electrocatalytic HTHP process as a sustainable advanced oxidation technology for wastewater treatment or electrosynthesis applications.