High-efficiency degradation of quinclorac via peroxymonosulfate activated by N-doped CoFe2O4/Fe0@CEDTA hybrid catalyst

Exploring catalyst materials which are advancing, recyclable and with high catalytic performances to remove persistent organic pollutants such as Quinclorac (QNC) is important. In this work, a novel N-doped carbon support CoFe2O4/Fe-0 hybrid catalyst (CFO/Fe@C) was in situ formed by a simple coprecipitation and calcination process. Fine intergrowth crystal CoFe2O4 and Fe-0 were uniformly dispersed on the N-doped porous carbon that derived from the raw material Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid (EDTA), which also provided chelating effect to prevent the agglomeration of the metals. Interestingly, the Fe-0 could only be formed with the presence of cobalt, possibly due to the increased reduction property resulted from the particle refinement. The as-formed Fe-0 could not only activate the peroxymonosulfate (PMS) but also reduce the Co3+, resulting in a synergistic impact to remarkably enhance the degradation performance. Besides, the N-doped porous carbon can also benefit the degradation of pollutant by strengthening the electron transfer. A good degradation efficiency of QNC was obtained in CFO/Fe@C-PMS system and most of the QNC had been degraded to carbon dioxide, water and other small molecular organisms. The removal rate remained over 70% after four reuses and the material could be easily recovered from the solution due to the good magnetic properties. Therefore, the as-prepared CFO/Fe@C catalyst should be an ideal catalyst for the removal of organic pollutants. (C) 2021 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A novel N-doped carbon support CoFe2O4/Fe-0 hybrid catalyst was in situ formed by coprecipitation and calcination process, which showed high catalytic performance in degrading persistent organic pollutants like Quinclorac. The Fe-0 could activate peroxymonosulfate and reduce Co3+ synergistically, while the N-doped porous carbon strengthened electron transfer for pollutant degradation. High degradation efficiency was achieved in the system with good magnetic recovery properties, making it an ideal catalyst for organic pollutants removal.