Construction of CuMoO4/MnO2/tourmaline composite for efficient organic wastewater decontamination via photo-Fenton-like processes

Abstract

A CuMoO4/MnO2/tourmaline (CMT) heterogeneous photocatalyst was successfully constructed by hydrothermal method followed by calcination and applied to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for organic contaminant degradation over a wide pH range under visible light illumination. The CMT catalyst exhibited impressive degradation efficiencies of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC, 93.48%), safranine T (SaT, 100%), acridine orange (AO, 99.46%), methyl orange (MO, 97.47%), neutral red (NR, 94.10%), trypan blue (TB, 93.67%), methylene blue (MB, 90.36%) and rhodamine B (RhB, 89.85%) within 50 min. The influence of related parameters including catalyst dosage, PMS concentration, initial pH value, TC concentration, coexisting ions, humic acid (HA) and different water matrices on TC degradation were systematically investigated. According to quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) tests, e−, SO4•−, •OH, •O2− and 1O2 all contributed to TC degradation, and •O2− played a predominant role in the photo-Fenton-like process. The reusability of CMT was evaluated by consecutive experiments, and comparable removal efficiencies could be maintained after five cycles. The degradation pathways of TC were deduced and the toxicity of degradation intermediates based on HPLC−MS detection was estimated by Toxicity Estimation Software (T.E.S.T.). Moreover, the catalytic degradation mechanisms of TC in CMT/PMS/Vis system were further proposed and the role of tourmaline was illustrated. This work opens an avenue for the construction of heterogeneous catalysts based on natural minerals in PMS/Vis coupling system for wastewater decontamination.