Abstract
An economical corncob biochar-based magnetic iron–copper bimetallic nanomaterial (marked as MBC) was successfully synthesized and optimized through a co-precipitation and pyrolysis method. It was successfully used to activate H2O2 to remove ciprofloxacin (CIP) from aqueous solutions. This material had high catalytic activity and structural stability. Additionally, it had good magnetic properties, which can be easily separated from solutions. In MBC/H2O2, the removal efficiency of CIP was 93.6% within 360 min at optimal reaction conditions. The conversion of total organic carbon (TOC) reached 51.0% under the same situation. The desorption experiments concluded that adsorption and catalytic oxidation accounted for 34% and 66% on the removal efficiency of CIP, respectively. The influences of several reaction parameters were systematically evaluated on the catalytic activity of MBC. OH was proved to play a significant role in the removal of CIP through electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis and a free radical quenching experiment. Additionally, such outstanding removal efficiency can be attributed to the excellent electronic conductivity of MBC, as well as the redox cycle reaction between iron and copper ions, which achieved the continuous generation of hydroxyl radicals. Integrating HPLC-MS, ion chromatography and density functional theory (DFT) calculation results, and possible degradation of the pathways of the removal of CIP were also thoroughly discussed. These results provided a theoretical basis and technical support for the removal of CIP in water.
Highlights
The environmental deterioration by the excessive discharge of pollutants has aroused great concern all over the world [1]
These results demonstrated that the metals were successfully loaded, and magnetic iron–copper bimetallic nanomaterial catalyst (MBC) contained Fe3 O4, CuO, a small amount of Cu
According to the change of the Cu2p peak area, 9.3% Cu+ was oxidized to Cu2+ after the reaction. These results indicated that iron and copper of MBC were involved in the electron transfer process
Summary
The environmental deterioration by the excessive discharge of pollutants has aroused great concern all over the world [1]. Metals as catalysts are prone to agglomeration and metal ion leaching and cause secondary pollution These problems can be overcome by loading iron–copper bimetal onto carbon-based [23]. Biochar is a carbonaceous material produced by biomass pyrolysis with abundant raw materials It is considered as a promising and low-cost adsorbent for organic pollutants [24]. An economical corncob biochar-based magnetic iron–copper bimetallic nanomaterial (marked as MBC) was synthesized through a co-precipitation and pyrolysis method. MBC has good removal efficiency for pollutant and is feasible for the advanced treatment of sewage such as medical wastewater For this purpose, the optimal preparation scheme was determined to enhance the removal efficiency of CIP. The possible intermediates and degradation pathways were investigated via HPLC-MS, IC and DFT calculation in this work
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