Fenton-like catalytic activity of wet-spun chitosan hollow fibers loaded with Fe3O4 nanoparticles: Batch and continuous flow investigations

Abstract

Fenton-like catalysts based on nanosized Fe3O4 impregnated on dry–wet spun chitosan hollow fibers (CS HFs) were prepared according to the dipping-drying method. The prepared catalysts were characterized using XRD, SEM and TEM. The Fenton-like catalytic activity of prepared Fe3O4-chitosan hollow fibers was evaluated by the degradation of reactive blue 19 as model dye. Effects of pH and H2O2 concentration on improving the catalytic activity were investigated. It was found that heterogeneous Fenton-like degradation of the dye follows an apparent pseudo first order kinetic model. The reusability of prepared catalysts was also investigated after three successive runs. The catalytic performance of Fe3O4–CS HFs was finally studied in a continuous system, for which with a tailored module was designed.