High performance magnetic carbonaceous materials as a photo Fenton-like catalyst for organic pollutant removal

Herein, three different catalysts, namely carbon nanosphere (CS), Fe3O4@CS, and Fe3O4@g-C3N4/CS, were synthesized by a facile one-pot hydrothermal carbonization approach. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-DRS), and FT-IR spectra were conducted to study the chemical and physical properties of the catalysts. Thereafter, the catalysts were used for catalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) in a visible light Fenton-like process. The catalytic activity for MB degradation shows an order of CS < Fe3O4@CS < Fe3O4@g-C3N4/CS. The catalytic system process using Fe3O4@g-C3N4/CS can effectively remove 99.9% of MB at 30 mg/L. Overall, the Fe3O4@g-C3N4/CS-photo Fenton-like system displays promising performance for the degradation of MB.

Automated summary

In this study, three different catalysts were synthesized using a facile one-pot hydrothermal carbonization approach and their chemical and physical properties were characterized. The Fe3O4@g-C3N4/CS catalyst showed the highest catalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue in a visible light Fenton-like process.