Enhanced catalytic performance with Fe@α-Fe2O3 thin nanosheets by synergistic effect of photocatalysis and Fenton-like process

Abstract

Developing novel catalysts and catalysis processes are highly attractive in environmental protection and energy utilization. Photocatalysis-Fenton combinational process is an environmentally friendly technology and has broad application prospects. In this work, thin Fe@α-Fe2O3 nanosheets with thickness of 2–5 nm were designed by oxidation of Fe metal nanostructure synthesized using a modified solution reaction method. The nanosheet structure with thin thickness has short diffusion distance for the photogenerated carriers and prolongs the carriers' life. Simultaneously, the presence of Fe can reduce the resistance of system and further promote the transport and transfer of photogenerated carriers from the bulk to the surface, causing less carrier recombination and better photocatalytic performance. What's more, the Fe@α-Fe2O3 composite can induce the Fenton-like reaction to generate active •OH radicals, which significantly improve the degradation rate. The synergistic effect of photocatalysis and Fenton processes makes the system show an enhanced photodegradation performance: 96.5% of RhB is degraded after 60 min visible light irradiation, especially, 84.3% of RhB is degraded within the first 10 min, which are much higher than that of the pure α-Fe2O3 sample. This work demonstrates that the conjunction of photocatalysis and Fenton processes based on the Fe@α-Fe2O3 nanosheets provides a potential application for pollutants degradation.