Enhancement of catalytic performance by regulating the surface properties of Fe3O4 composites

Abstract

Abstract As magnetic catalyst material, great studies have been made to improve the catalytic performance of Fe3O4 nanoparticles by changing the structure, but little attention has been paid to the relationship between the surface properties (the electronegativity, electron transport capacity) and the catalytic performance of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Therefore, this work was devoted to the investigation of the relationship by loading Fe3O4 nanoparticles on graphene oxide(GO) grafted with N,N,N',N'-Tetrakis (2-hydroxyethy)ethylenediamine (THEED), which was denoted as TG@Fe3O4. N atoms in THEED and GO have strong electronegativity and electron mobility respectively, which greatly change the surface properties of the Fe3O4 composite. A large number of characterization methods have proved that the original structure of the produced Fe3O4 nanoparticles has not been changed, and the Zeta potential and cyclic voltammetry curves confirmed that the surface properties of Fe3O4 composite have been improved. In the Fenton degradation experiment of MB, TG@Fe3O4 can make the degradation rate of MB reach 100% in 8 min, which verified that the strong electronegativity and electron transport capacity were beneficial to the improvement of the catalytic performance of Fe3O4 composite.