Comparative study of the efficiency of different noble metals supported on zirconium oxide in the catalytic wet air oxidation of bisphenol-A solution

Noble metals supported on ZrO 2 catalysts were elaborated using sol-gel and impregnation methods then studied for catalytic wet air oxidation of bisphenol-A (BPA) in water. The prepared solids were characterized by N 2 -physisorption at 77 k, XRD, TEM, TGA/TDA, FTIR spectroscopy, XPS and H 2 -TPR techniques. BPA solution of 10 mg/L was successfully oxidized at 100 °C and P air  = 20 bar. For pure ZrO 2, a conversion of 49% was obtained within 5 h. The catalytic activity was improved by adding noble metals resulting in a BPA conversion surpassing 90% for 3%Ru/ZrO 2 after 3 h. No catalyst deactivation was reported.