Catalytic activation of formic acid using Pd nanocluster decorated graphitic carbon nitride for diclofenac reductive hydrodechlorination

Citation:

Shao F, Gao Y, Xu W, Sun F, Chen L, Li F, Liu W. Catalytic activation of formic acid using Pd nanocluster decorated graphitic carbon nitride for diclofenac reductive hydrodechlorination. Journal of Hazardous Materials [Internet]. 2023;446:130677.

摘要:

Halogenated pharmaceuticals exhibit high toxicity if released to natural environment, and dehalogenation is a key process for their degradation. In this study, a reductive and directional dehalogenation technique, heterogenous formic acid (HCOOH) catalytic activation system, was proposed for diclofenac (DCF) dechlorination and detoxification. A functional material of Pd nanocluster decorated graphitic carbon nitride (Pd/g-C3N4) was developed for HCOOH activation. Although the optimized material (Pd1/g-C3N4) showed lower HCOOH decomposition rate (k1 = 0.287 ± 0.017 min−1) than the pristine Pd particles (k1 = 0.401 ± 0.031 min−1), it processed higher DCF degradation efficiency (97.9% within 30 min) than Pd particles. The enhancement mechanism was revealed by both experiments and theoretical calculations. Firstly, the six-fold cavities of g-C3N4 acted as anchor sites, which offered strong coordination environment for Pd nanoclusters. Secondly, the strong coordination environment of Pd led to upshifted d-band center of Pd 4d with enhanced bonding state, and then promoted HCOOH adsorption on Pd/g-C3N4, thus facilitating HCOOH decomposition through formate pathway rather than carboxyl pathway. Thirdly, Pd/g-C3N4 ensured HCOOH selectively decomposed as dehydrogenation reaction, which generated more H* (adsorbed H on Pd) than the dehydration reaction. The H* was proved to be the dominant reductive species for DCF hydrodechlorination. Moreover, the toxicities of DCF dechlorination products were greatly reduced.

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