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  • Original Paper: Sol-gel and hybrid materials for catalytic, photoelectrochemical and sensor applications
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Hydrothermal carbon modified Cu–Fe oxide with enhanced Fe(II)/Fe(III) cycle to activate peroxydisulfate for phenol removal

Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Phenol is a typical organic pollutant in wastewater, which will cause considerable damage and threat to the ecosystem and human health. In this work, hydrothermal carbon (HTC) modified copper-iron oxide (CFO) was synthesized using sol-gel method, and employed as heterogeneous catalyst to activate peroxydisulfate (PDS) for degrade phenol. The composition, morphology and specific surface area of the catalyst were determined by XRD, SEM-EDS and BET, and the functional groups and valence states of elements on the catalyst surface were analyzed by FTIR and XPS. The effects of some key parameters including HTC content, initial pH value, and coexisting inorganic anions on the removal efficiency of phenol in the system were investigated. The removal rate of phenol and TOC could be reached 90.17% and 84.43% at: phenol initial concentration 20 mg/L, CFO:HTC mass ratio 30: 1 (CFO–H2), PDS dosage 0.6 g/L, and catalyst dosage 0.31 g/L, under the condition of not adjusting the pH value and avoiding light. In addition, the possible mechanism of PDS activation by CFO–H2 was proposed. The reason for the efficient performance of PDS activation by CFO–H catalyst could be assignable to the synergistic effect of HTC and CFO. HTC and Cu(I) on the surface of catalyst greatly facilitated the conversion from Fe(III) to Fe(II), which was conductive to the generation of active free radicals during the reaction process. This study provides a new idea for the design of heterogeneous catalysts for the efficient treatment of organic pollutants with PDS.

In this study, we introduced hydrothermal carbon (HTC) to modify Cu–Fe oxides and synthesized carbon-metal composites by sol-gel method, which exhibited high performance in activating peroxydisulfate for phenol degradation. For the heterogeneous system, on the one hand, various valence mental ions in composite materials could react with peroxydisulfate to produce hydroxyl radicals and sulfate radicals. On the other hand, HTC, Cu(I) and superoxide radicals could effectively promote the transformation of Fe(III) to Fe(II) and generate more active free radicals during the reaction. As a result, these active radicals had synergistic effect for the degradation of phenol.

Highlights

  • Hydrothermal carbon modified Cu–Fe oxides catalyst (CFO–H) was synthesized by sol-gel method.

  • The CFO–H catalyst was first reported for PDS activation to phenol removal.

  • The effects of control factors in the CFO/PDS and CFO–H/PDS systems were compared.

  • Hydrothermal carbon effectively promoted the transformation of Fe(III) to Fe(II).

  • The mechanism of PDS activation by CFO–H was proposed.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Youth National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21808151 and No. 21978187).

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  1. College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, PR China

    Meng Fan, Jianxin Liu, Yawen Wang, Xiaochao Zhang, Rui Li, Changming Zhang, Rui Lv, Caimei Fan & Yunfang Wang

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  1. Meng Fan
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Fan, M., Liu, J., Wang, Y. et al. Hydrothermal carbon modified Cu–Fe oxide with enhanced Fe(II)/Fe(III) cycle to activate peroxydisulfate for phenol removal. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-022-05841-w

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Keywords

  • Peroxydisulfate activation
  • Cu–Fe oxide
  • HTC modification
  • Sol-gel synthesis
  • Phenol degradation