Catalytic dechlorination of chlorophenols in water by palladium/iron

Three isomer chlorophenols, o-, m-, p-chlorophenol, were dechlorinated by palladium/iron powder in water through catalytic reduction. The dechlorinated reaction is believed to take place on the surface site of the catalyst in a pseudo-first-order reaction. The reduction product for all the three isomers is phenol. The dechlorination rate increases with increase of bulk loading of palladium due to the increase of both the surface loading of palladium and the total surface area. The molecular structure also has an effect on the dechlorination rate. For conditions with 0.048% Pd/Fe, the rate constants are 0.0215, 0.0155 and 0.0112 min−1 for o-, m-, p-chlorophenol, respectively. Almost complete dechlorination is achieved within 5 h.