A novel catalytic process for degradation of bisphenol A from aqueous solutions: A synergistic effect of nano-Fe3O4@Alg-Fe on O3/H2O2

In this study, alginate-Fe2+-/Fe3+ polymer coated Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4 Alg-Fe MNPs) with core/shell structure were synthesized by a simple oxidation-precipitation method and used as a nanocatalyst in heterogeneous catalytic ozonation process to degrade bisphenol A (BPA). The characterization studies (X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) confirmed that Fe3O4 core was coated with a layer of alginate-Fe2+/Fe3+. Elementary experiments with single processes were carried out to select the optimum values of BPA concentration, O-3 flow rate, H2O2 concentration, and nano catalyst concentration as 10 ppm, 0.1 g/h, 30 mmol L-1 and 0.7 g L-1, respectively. The results showed that BPA degradation is strongly dependent on the pH, initial concentrations of the catalyst, H2O2 and O-3 dosage. The degradation of BPA could be due to the presence of three hydroxyls radical productions, including O-3, H2O2 and Fe on Fe3O4@Alg-Fe MNPs. In order to determine the inherent (in principle possible) biodegradability of bisphenol A, the Zahn-Wellens test was used and results showed that COD related to bisphenole A was fully eliminating over 2-3 weeks. (C) 2016 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.