A New Route for Low Pressure and Temperature CWAO: A PtRu/MoS₂_Hyper-Crosslinked Nanocomposite

PtRu/MoS₂ nanoparticles (NPs) (PtRu alloy partially coated by one-layer MoS₂ nanosheets) were prepared through a 'wet chemistry' approach. The obtained NPs were directly embedded, at 5 parts per hundred resin/rubber (phr) loading, in a poly (divinylbenzene-co-vinyl benzyl chloride) hyper-crosslinked (HCL) resin, synthesized via bulk polymerization of the resin precursors, followed by conventional FeCl₃ post-crosslinking. The obtained HCL nanocomposites were characterized to evaluate the effect of the NPs. It shows a high degree of crosslinking, a good dispersion of NPs and a surface area up to 1870 ± 20 m²/g. The catalytic activity of the HCL nanocomposite on phenol wet air oxidation was tested at low air pressure (P_air = 0.3 MPa) and temperature (T = 95 °C), and at different phenol concentrations. At the lower phenol concentration, the nanocomposite gives a total organic carbon (TOC) conversion of 97.1%, with a mineralization degree of 96.8%. At higher phenol concentrations, a phenol removal of 99.9%, after 420 min, was achieved, indicating a quasi-complete depletion of phenol, with a TOC conversion of 86.5%, corresponding to a mineralization degree of 84.2%. Catalyst fouling was evaluated, showing good reusability of the obtained nanocomposite.