The ability of recycled magnetite nanoparticles to degrade carbamazepine in water through photo-Fenton oxidation at neutral pH

Herein, the recycled magnetite obtained from industrial ferrous scrap was used as an eco-friendly, sustainable iron source in the photo-Fenton degradation of carbamazepine (CBZ), an emerging contaminant in the aqueous environment. Citrate was used as a robust chelating agent to trap and stabilize the iron required for the Fenton reaction. The results proved the formation of the Fe(III)-citrate complex, followed by the reduction of iron to Fe (II) and the formation of harmless molecules such as malonate under UV radiation. The adopted photo-Fenton process in the presence of magnetite (0.3 g/L), H2O2 (0.5 mM), and citrate (0.1 mM) led to about 77 % degradation of CBZ. Then, degradation efficiency was improved to 99 % by increasing the prior contact time between citrate and magnetite. In addition, 1 mM of citrate and 2 mM of H2O2 were found to be the optimal values for the degradation of CBZ under the adopted photo-Fenton process. Eventually, the experiments illus-trated that the recycled magnetite could be used in the photo-Fenton process in five successive cycles without losing its efficiency.

Automated summary

Recycled magnetite from industrial ferrous scrap was used as a sustainable iron source in photo-Fenton degradation of the emerging contaminant carbamazepine (CBZ) in water. Citrate was employed as a chelating agent to stabilize the iron required for the Fenton reaction. The results demonstrated the formation of Fe(III)-citrate complex, reduction of iron to Fe(II), and harmless molecule formation under UV radiation.