Fe3O4@C nanoparticles as high-performance Fenton-like catalyst for dye decoloration

Water pollution has become serious environmental problem nowadays. Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) have been widely applied in water treatment. However, traditional Fenton reaction based on Fe2+-H2O2 system has obvious drawbacks, which limit its applications. In this study, magnetic Fe3O4 core-C shell nanoparticles (Fe3O4@C NPs) were prepared for the decoloration of methylene blue (MB) via the co-precipitation followed by the hydrothermal dehydrogenation of glucose. Fe3O4@C NPs showed high catalytic activity of the decoloration of MB through the decomposition of H2O2 in Fenton-like reactions. Fe3O4@C NPs had much higher activity than bare Fe3O4 cores, suggesting the coating of carbon enhanced the catalytic activity. The performance of Fe3O4@C NPs was better at lower pH and higher temperature, but was significantly inhibited in the presence of radical scavenger tertiary butanol. Fe3O4@C NPs could be magnetic separated and regenerated, and maintained with very good catalytic activity. The implication for the applications of Fe3O4@C NP-catalyzed Fenton-like reactions in water treatment was discussed.Multidisciplinary SciencesSCI(E)3ARTICLEyangst@pku.edu.cn; hwang@shu.edu.cn273406-34125