Hollow-structured Fe2O3/Au/SiO2 nanorods with enhanced and recyclable photo-Fenton oxidation for the remediation of organic pollutants

A novel heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst, hollow-structured Fe2O3/Au/SiO2 nanorods, was synthesized, characterized, and used for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) organic pollutant under visible light irradiation. with an oxideeTo acquire an iron oxide-based catalyst separately loaded with stable Au nanoparticles, calcination was conducted with polyacrylic acid (PAA) decorated and thin SiO2 film coated to protect and form a hollow structure. The degradation results showed that Fe2O3/Au/SiO2 could effectively degrade MO, with almost 100% removal efficiency within 20 min. Moreover, the degradation rate still can reach up to 91.7% after five successive cycles. Combined with kinds of characterization, the enhanced catalytic activity can be ascribed to the incorporation of Au NPs and hollow-structured Fe2O3 via localized surface plasmon resonance effect. The possible catalytic mechanism of Fe2O3/Au/SiO2 was tentatively proposed. This research provides a new approach for the development of heterogeneous photo-Fenton system with a high stability. (c) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.