Development of Highly Efficient Heterogeneous Fe <sub>3</sub> O <sub>4</sub> ‐Biochar Nanocomposite as Fenton‐like Catalysts for Degradation of Fast Green
Aniruddha Gogoi, Baithy Mallesham, Madhukar Navgire, Nirmali Gogoi, C. Borgohain, Kula Kamal Senapati, Jayanta K. Sarmah, Jongwon Kim, Parikshit Gogoi
Abstract
Abstract Iron oxide and its carbon‐containing biochar have shown efficiencies in Fenton oxidation reactions in recent years. Though magnetic biochar composites have been reported, developing facile, environment‐friendly methods with appropriate activity remains challenging. Removing dye traces from aqueous solutions is a prime concern under water scarcity issues at different levels. We developed a catalyst of biochar with magnetite for dye remediation. Magnetite is homogeneously loaded on biochar surfaces to form Fe 3 O 4 ‐biochar to efficiently activate H 2 O 2 to achieve hydroxyl radicals. This catalyst degrades Fast green dye efficiently around 89.3 % within 60 min with the optimum reaction conditions of 15 mM Fast Green dye, pH=4, 30 mg of Fe 3 O 4 ‐biochar and 25 mM of H 2 O 2 . The composite shows around 41 % increase in the degradation rate after incorporating the Fe 3 O 4 on biochar. The prepared Fe 3 O 4 ‐biochar composite can be easily recycled without significant activity loss for five successive degradation reactions. The reported study provided a direction to prepare newer Fenton catalysts from sustainable sources for the degradation of organic dyes in water and overcame individual limitations of Fe 3 O 4 and biochar.