Atomic implantation synthesis of Fe-Cu/SBA-15 nanocomposite as a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst for enhanced degradation of DDT

Fe and Cu containing SBA-15 composites (Fe-Cu/SBA-15) were successfully prepared by atomic implantation method. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, BET, EDXand XPS. From these results, it reveals the existence of the both (Fe2+ and Cu2+) metals ions in the SBA-15 framework. Aseries of Fex-Cuy/SBA-15 composites with different Fe content degradation of 4,4-Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane(DDT) under the simulated sun-light irradiation using H2O2 as an oxidant agent. This clearly indicated that Cu+ reduce Fe3+ to Fe2+ and consequently, enhancing the catalytic activity. Effects of pH, H2O2 concentration and catalyst dosage were investigated. The best conditions were found to be pH of 5; 3mM of H2O2 concentration, 0, 4 g L-1 catalyst and reaction time of 4 h at room temperature. The novel Fe-Cu/SBA-15 composite exhibited highly photocatalytic performance ofDDTdegradation and the conversion reached to the value of 92.3% for the 10Fe-2Cu/SBA-15 composite after 4 h of reaction.