Project description:In this work, the combination of high surface area diatomite with Fe and Cu bimetallic MOF material catalysts (Fe0.25Cu0.75(BDC)@DE) were synthesized by traditional solvothermal method, and exhibited efficient degradation performance to tetracycline hydrochloride (TC). The degradation results showed: Within 120 min, about 93% of TC was degraded under the optimal conditions. From the physical-chemical characterization, it can be seen that Fe and Cu play crucial roles in the reduction of Fe3+ because of their synergistic effect. The synergistic effect can not only increase the generation of hydroxyl radicals (•OH), but also improve the degradation efficiency of TC. The Lewis acid property of Cu achieved the pH range of reaction system has been expanded, and it made the material degrade well under both neutral and acidic conditions. Loading into diatomite can reduce agglomeration and metal ion leaching, thus the novel catalysts exhibited low metal ion leaching. This catalyst has good structural stability, and less loss of performance after five reaction cycles, and the degradation efficiency of the material still reached 81.8%. High performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to analyze the degradation intermediates of TC, it provided a deep insight of the mechanism and degradation pathway of TC by bimetallic MOFs. This allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the catalytic mechanism and degradation pathway of TC degradation by bimetallic MOFS catalysts. This work has not only achieved important progress in developing high-performance catalysts for TC degradation, but has also provided useful information for the development of MOF-based catalysts for rapid environmental remediation.
Project description:Clean water is one of the sustainable development goals. Organic dye is one of the water pollutants affecting water quality. Hence, the conversion of dyes to safer species is crucial for water treatment. The Fenton reaction using Fe as a catalyst is a promising process. However, homogeneous catalysts are normally sensitive, difficult to separate, and burdensome to reuse. Therefore, a catechol-based hypercrosslinked polymer (catechol-HCP) was developed as an inexpensive solid support for Fe (catechol-HCP-Fe) and applied as a heterogenous Fenton catalyst. The good interaction of the catechol moiety with Fe, as well as the porous structure, simple preparation, low cost, and high stability of catechol-HCP, make it beneficial for Fe-loading in the polymer and Fenton reaction utilisation. The catechol-HCP-Fe demonstrated good catalytic activity for methylene blue (MB) degradation in a neutral pH. Complete decolouration of 100 ppm MB could be observed within 25 min. The rate of reaction was influenced by H2O2 concentration, polymer dose, MB concentration, pH, and temperature. The catechol-HCP-Fe could be reused for at least four cycles. The dominant reactive species of the reaction was considered to be singlet oxygen (1O2), and the plausible mechanism of the reaction was proposed.
Project description:We present a novel heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst of LiFePO4 (LFP). LFP has been widely used as an electrode material of a lithium ion battery, but we observed that commercial LFP (LFP-C) could act as a good Fenton-like catalyst to decompose rhodamine 6G. The catalytic activity of LFP-C microparticles was much higher than a popular catalyst, magnetite nanoparticles. Furthermore, we found that the catalytic activity of LFP-C could be further increased by increasing the specific surface area. The reaction rate constant of the hydrothermally synthesized LFP microcrystals (LFP-H) is at least 18 times higher than that of magnetite nanoparticles even though the particle size of LFP is far larger than magnetite nanoparticles. The LFP catalysts also exhibited a good recycling behavior and high stability under an oxidizing environment. The effects of the experimental parameters such as the concentration of the catalysts, pH, and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide on the catalytic activity of LFP were also analyzed.
Project description:Magnetic attapulgite-Fe3O4 nanocomposites (ATP-Fe3O4) were prepared by coprecipitation of Fe3O4 on ATP. The composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopey, X-ray diffractometry, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectrometer and transmission electron microscopy. Surface characterization showed that Fe3O4 particles with an average size of approximately 15 nm were successfully embedded in matrix of ATP. The capacity of the Fe3O4-activated ATP (A-ATP@Fe3O4) composites for catalytic degradation of ethidium bromide (EtBr, 80 mg/L) at different pH values, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentrations, temperatures, and catalyst dosages was investigated. EtBr degradation kinetics studies indicated that the pseudo-first-order kinetic constant was 2.445 min-1 at T = 323 K and pH 2.0 with 30 mM H2O2, and 1.5 g/L of A-ATP@Fe3O4. Moreover, a regeneration study suggested that A-ATP@Fe3O4 maintained over 80% of its maximal EtBr degradation ability after five successive cycles. The effects of the iron concentrations and free radical scavengers on EtBr degradation were studied to reveal possible catalytic mechanisms of the A-ATP@Fe3O4 nanocomposites. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance revealed both hydroxyl (∙OH) and superoxide anion (∙O2-) radicals were involved in EtBr degradation. Radical scavenging experiment suggested EtBr degradation was mainly ascribed to ∙OH radicals, which was generated by reaction between Fe2+ and H2O2 on the surface of A-ATP@Fe3O4.
Project description:A fully nanoporous Fe-rich alloy, prepared by selective dissolution of melt-spun Fe43.5Cu56.5 ribbons, exhibits outstanding properties as a heterogeneous Fenton catalyst toward the degradation of methyl orange (MO) in aqueous solution. In addition, the ferromagnetic characteristics of this material enable its wireless manipulation toward specific locations within polluted wastewater. The influence of selective dissolution on the microstructure, sample morphology (surface and cross-section), elemental composition, and magnetic properties of the resulting nanoporous alloy is investigated. The dealloying procedure enhances the saturation magnetization and drastically increases the catalytic performance (i.e., the time required for full degradation of MO from the medium is reduced by a factor of approximately 2 by subjecting the Fe43.5Cu56.5 ribbons to prior dealloying). Remarkably, the effectiveness of this nanoporous material surpasses the results obtained by the homogeneous Fenton reaction using an equivalent concentration of Fe cations leached into the media from the nanoporous alloy. The different factors that promote the high catalytic activity are discussed. The outstanding catalytic activity, together with the simplicity of the synthetic procedure, makes this material very appealing for water remediation using advanced Fenton processes.
Project description:Heterogeneous Fenton-like catalysts with the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS), which offer the advantages of fast reaction rate, wide functional pH range and cost efficiency, have attracted great interest in wastewater treatment. In this study, a novel magnetic MnO2/Fe3O4/diatomite nanocomposite is synthesized and then used as heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst to degrade the organic pollutant methylene blue (MB) with the activation of PMS. The characterization results show that the Fe3O4 nanoparticles and nanoflower-like MnO2 are evenly distributed layer-by-layer on the surface of diatomite, which can be readily magnetically separated from the solution. The as-prepared catalyst, compared with other Fenton-like catalysts, shows a superb MB degradation rate of nearly 100% in 45 min in the pH range of 4 to 8 and temperature range of 25 to 55 °C. Moreover, the nanocomposite shows a good mineralization rate of about 60% in 60 min and great recyclability with a recycle efficiency of 86.78% after five runs for MB. The probable mechanism of this catalytic system is also proposed as a synergistic effect between MnO2 and Fe3O4.
Project description:In this study, the Fe-containing tailings (Fe-TO) ore was reutilized and enriched with FeCl3 as a heterogeneous catalyst for the Fenton process to degrade the organic dyes from aqueous solution. The determinants of the heterogeneous catalytic Fenton system which included iron modification ratio, solution pH, catalyst dosage, H2O2 dosage and initial concentration of organic dyes were systematically investigated. The modification ratio of 15% (w/w of iron), pH of 3, MFe-TO15 dosage of 0.5 g L-1 and H2O2 dosage of 840 mg L-1 were chosen as the best operational conditions for Fenton oxidation of organic dyes. The decolorization efficiency of both MB and RhB by MFe-TO15/H2O2 was higher than that of Fe-TO/H2O2 by about two times. The kinetic study showed the degradation of organic dyes well fitted the pseudo-first-order kinetic model with apparent constant rate values (K d) following the same sequence as the degradation efficiency of organic dyes. The degradation mechanism of dyes could be attributed to adsorption due to the good-development in textural properties of the iron modified catalyst (MFe-TO) with an increase in BET surface area, pore volume and pore diameter of, respectively, 2, 5 and 5 times and leaching iron through homogeneous Fenton reaction. However, the oxidation process occurring on the MFe-TO15's surface by heterogeneous Fenton reaction which enhanced decomposition of H2O2 for continuous generation of hydroxyl radicals was the main mechanism. The key role of *OH radical in oxidation of organic dyes was further ascertained by the remarkable drop in the decolorization of both organic dyes when the various radical-scavengers, including tert-butanol and chloride were supplemented into Fenton systems. A good stability of the catalyst was obtained through leaching test with low leaching iron ratio. The applied modified catalyst remained stable through three consecutive runs. From these findings, it can be concluded that the modified material can be applied as a feasible, inexpensive and highly effective catalyst for removal of persistent organic compounds from wastewater.
Project description:Patulin (PAT), a mycotoxin found mainly in matured apples, is produced by different species of fungi, mainly Penicillium expansum, and is found in various fruits and vegetables used to produce juice. Little focus has been placed on nano-technological methods for the mitigation of this problem. In this work, carbon-encapsulated nano-zero valent iron (CE-nZVI) particles were synthesized and used as heterogeneous Fenton agents for the degradation of PAT in apple juice. The particles were found to have a spherical shape with a diameter of 130 ± 50 nm. In a heterogeneous Fenton degradation (involving CE-nZVI) process, a concentration of 0.05 g/L CE-nZVI with 0.5 mM H2O2 was used. Since the Fenton oxidation process is pH-dependent, placebo degradation was observed at varying pH conditions with an average percentage of PAT degradation of 27.8%, 87.0%, 98.0%, and 99.75% at pH 6, 5, 4.5, and 3.5 respectively, between 1 min to 4 h in a water matrix. In a juice matrix, at the regular pH of juice (3.6), percentage PAT degradation of 72% and 89% was obtained after a 2-h treatment using heterogeneous Fenton oxidation (CE-nZVI/H2O2) systems, using 0.5 mM H2O2 and 1 mM H2O2, respectively.
Project description:Developing green heterogeneous catalysts with excellent Fenton-like activity is critical for water remediation technologies. However, current catalysts often rely on toxic transitional metals, and their catalytic performance is far from satisfactory as alternatives of homogeneous Fenton-like catalysts. In this study, a green catalyst based on Zn single-atom was prepared in an ammonium atmosphere using ZIF-8 as a precursor. Multiple characterization analyses provided evidence that abundant intrinsic defects due to the edge sites were created, leading to the formation of a thermally stable edge-hosted Zn-N4 single-atom catalyst (ZnN4-Edge). Density functional theory calculations revealed that the edge sites equipped the single-atom Zn with a super catalytic performance, which not only promoted decomposition of peroxide molecule (HSO5-) but also greatly lowered the activation barrier for •OH generation. Consequently, the as-prepared ZnN4-Edge exhibited extremely high Fenton-like performance in oxidation and mineralization of phenol as a representative organic contaminant in a wide range of pH, realizing its quick detoxification. The atom-utilization efficiency of the ZnN4-Edge was ~104 higher than an equivalent amount of the control sample without edge sites (ZnN4), and the turnover frequency was ~103 times of the typical benchmark of homogeneous catalyst (Co2+). This study opens up a revolutionary way to rationally design and optimize heterogeneous catalysts to homogeneous catalytic performance for Fenton-like application.
Project description:The selective oxidation of CH4 in the aqueous phase to produce valuable chemicals has attracted considerable attention due to its mild reaction conditions and simple process. As the most widely studied catalyst for this reaction, Fe-ZSM-5 demonstrates high intrinsic activity and selectivity; however, Fe-ZSM-5 prepared using conventional methods has a limited number of active Fe sites, resulting in low CH4 conversion per unit mass of the catalyst. This study reports a facile organic-template-free synthesis strategy that enables the incorporation of more Fe into the zeolite framework with a higher dispersion degree compared to conventional synthesis methods. Because framework Fe incorporated in this way is more readily transformed into isolated extra-framework Fe species under thermal treatment, the overall effect is that Fe-ZSM-5 prepared using this method (Fe-HZ5-TF) has 3 times as many catalytically active sites as conventional Fe-ZSM-5. When used for the selective oxidation of CH4 with 0.5 M H2O2 at 75 °C, Fe-HZ5-TF produced a high C1 oxygenate yield of 109.4 mmol gcat-1 h-1 (a HCOOH selectivity of 91.1%), surpassing other catalysts reported to date. Spectroscopic characterization and density functional theory calculations revealed that the active sites in Fe-HZ5-TF are mononuclear Fe species in the form of [(H2O)3Fe(IV)═O]2+ bound to Al pairs in the zeolite framework. This differs from conventional Fe-ZSM-5, where binuclear Fe acts as the active site. Analysis of the catalyst and product evolution during the reaction suggests a radical-driven pathway to explain CH4 activation at the mononuclear Fe site and subsequent conversion to C1 oxygenates.