Oxidative Degradation of Phenol via In-situ Generation of H2O2 in a Flow Reactor

Abstract AuPd nanoalloys are shown to offer significantly enhanced catalytic performance for both the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and the in-situ oxidative degradation of phenol. Under conditions where limited phenol conversion is observed using commercial H 2 O 2 , the bimetallic Au–Pd system facilitates efficient in-situ generation of H 2 O 2 and associated reactive oxygen species (ROS), enabling phenol conversion rates exceeding 70%. By optimizing key reaction parameters, near-complete phenol degradation was achieved, alongside the effective breakdown of intermediate phenolic by-products. Notably, unlike earlier reported systems, the optimized 0.5%Au-0.5%Pd/TiO 2 catalyst exhibited excellent stability, maintaining consistent performance over 50 h of continuous operation, highlighting the potential to apply the in-situ approach for long-term application in advanced water treatment processes. Graphical Abstract