Preparation and characterization of catalytic membrane reactors

Abstract

Catalytic Membrane Reactors, CMR, are well known because of their versatility to develop various industrial processes. This versatility lies in CMR’s ability to run many functions in a single device. These functions can be filtration, dosage and catalysis. This work proposes four ways to prepare CMRs in interface mode to be tested in environmental remediation. For the preparation of Catalytic Membrane Reactors, commercial Hollow Fiber Membranes made of corundum were used. Palladium, as the main active phase, was synthesized by different methods such as impregnation, sputtering and microemulsion. Moreover, copper palladium alloy nanoparticles were obtained by the polyol route. The reactors obtained were tested in aqueous medium, at atmospheric pressure and low reaction temperatures (< 60°C) in the following reactions: in situ generation of hydrogen peroxide and phenol oxidation. The best results were achieved with the CMR with palladium prepared by impregnation. The others CMRs showed fast deactivation in all tests.