A novel tin ferrite/polymer composite use in photo-Fenton reactions

Abstract

Novel SnFe2O4/polypyrrole composite photo-Fenton catalysts were prepared and characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, UV–Vis, BET, AFM, and XPS. The effect of different proportions of ferrite and polymer in the composite was investigated on the degradation efficiency of tartrazine dye in terms of pH and H2O2 dosage. A response surface methodology was applied to determine the best conditions of the reactor. The 10 wt% SnFe2O4 composites presented higher activity being able to discolor 100% of the tartrazine dye solution (100 mL, 20 mg L−1) by photo-Fenton process in 60 min under the following conditions: 0.1 g of SFO-10-PPy, pH 3, 3.4 × 10−5 mol L−1 of H2O2, and visible radiation. This enhanced performance is associated with a decrease in the bandgap energy and electron–hole recombination rate, which was efficient in a charge carrier transport. In this way, it enables the generation of radicals ·OH and O 2 − , by which it was possible to elucidate a possible mechanism for degradation. In addition, the composite can be used for eight recycles with high physicochemical stability. In general, due to the fact that the composite presented intrinsic properties, high catalytic activity, simple preparation, and good reuse, the supported catalyst showed potential to become a highly efficient and environmentally friendly catalyst for the treatment of wastewater containing organic pollutants.