Abstract
Rhodamine B (RhB) is used in various industries and its effluent must be effectively treated because of its harmful and carcinogenic nature. In this work, ionothermally synthesized Cu-doped Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (Cu–Fe3O4 MNPs) were found to be a highly efficient heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst for complete decolorization of the RhB solution with H2O2 at pH ~ 7 and 25 °C. The effects of the catalyst loading, initial concentrations of RhB and H2O2, co-existing natural organic matter and inorganic salts, reaction temperature, and radical scavengers on the catalytic performance of Cu–Fe3O4 were investigated. Monte-Carlo simulations revealed that copper dopants facilitated the activation of H2O2 via adopting a terminal end-on adsorption mode and increased collision frequency by bringing the RhB molecules closer to H2O2 and the magnetite surface. These theoretical calculations provide new insight into the promotional effect of copper dopants in magnetite at molecular level.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).
References
Anh Le-Tuan P, Changha L, Doyle FM, Sedlak DL (2009) A silica-supported iron oxide catalyst capable of activating hydrogen peroxide at neutral pH values. Environ Sci Technol 43:8930–8935
Chen F, Zhao J, Hidaka H (2003) Highly selective deethylation of rhodamine B: adsorption and photooxidation pathways of the dye on the TiO2/SiO2 composite photocatalyst. Int J Photoenergy 5:209–217
Chen F, Xie S, Huang X, Qiu X (2017) Ionothermal synthesis of Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles as efficient heterogeneous Fenton-like catalysts for degradation of organic pollutants with H2O2. J Hazard Mater 322:152–162
Chiou CS, Chen HW, Chen ZT (2018) Application of magnetic adsorbent with silicate and phenyl polymers to adsorb Rhodamine B. Int J Environ Sci Technol 15:1879–1886
Dean JA (1998) Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, 15th edn. McGraw-Hill, New York
Di Cosimo JI, Diez VK, Xu M, Iglesia E, Apesteguía CR (1998) Structure and surface and catalytic properties of Mg-Al basic oxides. J Catal 178:499–510
Guo S, Yang W, You L, Li J, Chen J, Zhou K (2020) Simultaneous reduction of Cr(VI) and degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride by a novel iron-modified rectorite composite through heterogeneous photo-Fenton processes. Chem Eng J 393:124758–124769
He Z, Sun C, Yang S, Ding Y, He H, Wang Z (2009) Photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B by Bi2WO6 with electron accepting agent under microwave irradiation: mechanism and pathway. J Hazard Mater 162:1477–1486
Huang R, Fang Z, Yan X, Cheng W (2012) Heterogeneous sono-Fenton catalytic degradation of bisphenol A by Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles under neutral condition. Chem Eng J 197:242–249
Huang X, Xu C, Ma J, Chen F (2018) Ionothermal synthesis of Cu-doped Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles with enhanced peroxidase-like activity for organic wastewater treatment. Adv Powder Technol 29:796–803
Huang X, Du W, Chen R, Chen F (2020) Adsorption-enhanced catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of aromatic compounds on ionothermally synthesised copper-doped magnetite magnetic nanoparticles. Environ Chem 17:426–435
ISO8467-1993 Water quality - Determination of permanganate index
Lin C-C, Ho J-M, Hsieh H-L (2012) Feasibility of using a rotating packed bed in preparing Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Chem Eng J 203:88–94
Lindsey ME, Tarr MA (2000) Inhibition of hydroxyl radical reaction with aromatics by dissolved natural organic matter. Environ Sci Technol 34:444–449
Lu M-C, Chen J-N, Chang C-P (1997) Effect of inorganic ions on the oxidation of dichlorvos insecticide with Fenton’s reagent. Chemosphere 35:2285–2293
Luo W, Zhu L, Wang N, Tang H, Cao M, She Y (2010) Efficient removal of organic pollutants with magnetic nanoscaled BiFeO3 as a reusable heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst. Environ Sci Technol 44:1786–1791
Masudi A, Harimisa GE, Ghafar NA, Jusoh NWC (2020) Magnetite-based catalysts for wastewater treatment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:4664–4682
Munoz M, de Pedro ZM, Casas JA, Rodriguez JJ (2015) Preparation of magnetite-based catalysts and their application in heterogeneous Fenton oxidation – a review. Appl Catal B Environ 176-177:249–265
Wang N, Zhu L, Wang D, Wang M, Lin Z, Tang H (2010a) Sono-assisted preparation of highly-efficient peroxidase-like Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles for catalytic removal of organic pollutants with H2O2. Ultrason Sonochem 17:526–533
Wang N, Zhu L, Wang M, Wang D, Tang H (2010b) Sono-enhanced degradation of dye pollutants with the use of H2O2 activated by Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles as peroxidase mimetic. Ultrason Sonochem 17:78–83
Wang C, Cao Y, Wang H (2019a) Copper-based catalyst from waste printed circuit boards for effective Fenton-like discoloration of Rhodamine B at neutral pH. Chemosphere 230:278–285
Wang D, Zou J, Cai H, Huang Y, Li F, Cheng Q (2019b) Effective degradation of Orange G and Rhodamine B by alkali-activated hydrogen peroxide: roles of HO2− and O2·−. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:1445–1454
Wang C, Ying C, Tang Y, Yan Y, Feng X (2020) Synergistic effect of Co(II) doping on FeS activating heterogeneous Fenton processes toward degradation of Rhodamine B. Chem Eng J Adv 4:100044
Xue X, Hanna K, Deng N (2009) Fenton-like oxidation of Rhodamine B in the presence of two types of iron (II, III) oxide. J Hazard Mater 166:407–414
Zeng Y, Hao R, Xing B, Hou Y, Xu Z (2010) One-pot synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoprisms with controlled electrochemical properties. Chem Commun 46:3920–3922
Zhang J, Xiao S, Chen R, Chen F (2019) Promotional effect of short-chain saturated alcohols on Fe3O4-catalyzed decomposition of H2O2 and its application in selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol. J Chem Technol Biotechnol 94:1613–1621
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 21571146) and Graduate Innovative Fund of Wuhan Institute of Technology (no. CX2019164).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
WD, RH, and XH carried out the experiments. WD and FC performed the MC simulation. XH wrote the original draft. RC and FC reviewed and edited the original draft. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable
Consent for publication
Not applicable
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Ricardo Torres-Palma
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
ESM 1
(DOC 1321 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Du, W., Huang, R., Huang, X. et al. Copper-promoted heterogeneous Fenton-like oxidation of Rhodamine B over Fe3O4 magnetic nanocatalysts at mild conditions. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 19959–19968 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12264-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12264-z