Fe3O4/MMT Fenton-like heterogeneous catalyst for the methylene blue degradation
Hassan Ayadi, Ammar Khaled, Sabrina Halladja, İssam Boudraà, Zehoua Rehimi, Mohamed M. Chehimi
Abstract
ABSTRACT Modified clay materials constitute a unique series of materials for effective and efficient heterogeneous catalytic oxidation applied to environmental remediation. In this work, magnetite- decorated montmorillonite catalyst (Fe 3 O 4 /MMT) was prepared by co-precipitation method and then characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy. Montmorillonite show interesting properties in adsorption and catalysis. Moreover the Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles mainly existed on the surface of the MMT, thus exhibiting improved dispersion and lower levels of aggregation. The catalytic activity of Fe 3 O 4 /MMT was interrogated in advanced oxidation process using methylene blue (MB) as a model pollutant. The catalyzed degradation of MB was conducted in the presence of H 2 O 2 . Fe 3 O 4 /MMT showed a higher degradation efficiency compared to MMT and Fe 3 O 4 . This survey was optimized by a change in initial H 2 O 2 concentration and temperature; the results obtained show a quasi-complete removal of the MB color. This study confirmed the catalytic efficiency of Fe 3 O 4 /MMT material for MB removal by heterogeneous Fenton oxidation. In addition, the synthesized material was easily recovered by simple magnetic separation which accounts for good reusability and remarkable catalytic stability.