Copper nickel co-impregnation of Moroccan yellow clay as promising catalysts for the catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of caffeine

Copper and nickel were incorporated into the prepared yellow clay (YC) using one of the most widely used methods, for the preparation of heterogeneous catalysts, which is the wet impregnation method (IPM) and its application as a heterogeneous catalyst for Caffeine (CAF). Several catalysts Cooper Nickel's Catalysts (Cu-Ni) were applied to the yellow clay with different weight ratio of Cu and Ni, in order to explore the role of both metals during the catalytic oxidation process CWPO. Furthermore, the CuNi-YC catalysts, were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Langmuir's surface area, Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES), so as to get a better understanding concerning the catalytic activity's behavior of CuNi-YC catalysts. The optimization of the catalytic activity's effects on the different weight ratios of Cu and Ni, temperature and H2O2 were also examined, using Box-Behnken Response Surface Methodology RSM to enhance the CAF conversion. The analysis of variances (ANOVA) demonstrates that Box-Behnken model was valid and the CAF conversion reached 86.16%, when H2O2 dosage was equal to 0.15 mol.L-1, copper impregnated (10%) and temperature value attained 60 degrees C. In addition, the regeneration of catalyst's cycles under the optimum conditions, indicated the higher stability up to four cycles without a considerable reduction in its conversion performance.

Automated summary

In this study, copper and nickel were incorporated into yellow clay using the wet impregnation method to prepare CuNi-YC catalysts for the catalytic oxidation of Caffeine. The catalysts were characterized using various techniques, and the effects of different factors on catalytic activity were optimized using the Box-Behnken Response Surface Methodology. The results show that under the optimized conditions, the CuNi-YC catalyst exhibited high stability and efficiency for Caffeine conversion.