Cold catalytic recovery of loaded activated carbon using iron oxide-based nanoparticles

A novel approach for the recovery of spent activated carbon by an advanced oxidation process using iron oxide-based nanocatalysts was proposed and investigated. Model organic contaminants, such as ethylene glycol and phenol, were chosen for this study as water pollutants. It was shown that there are several advantages in using catalytic oxidation recovery of activated carbon with iron oxide-based nanocatalysts: low temperature reactivity of catalytic recovery without heating; and a relatively large number of adsorption–recovery cycles, without a reduction in the adsorptive properties of the virgin activated carbon or without a performance decrease from the first adsorption–recovery cycle of the new modified adsorptive properties of the activated carbon. The catalytic recovery takes place without ultraviolet light or any visible radiation sources. Results show a high efficiency of catalytic recovery of spent activated carbon using iron oxide-based nanocatalysts. A 97–99% efficiency of spent activated carbon catalytic regeneration was achieved under chosen conditions after 15–20 min of reaction. The process may be also considered as cold in situ recovery of active carbon.