Synthesis of magnetic-photo-Fenton catalyst for degradation of emerging pollutant

Abstract

In this study, magnetic iron particles doped with TiO2 were synthetized to be used as a photo electro Fenton catalyst, being easily eliminated from the treated solution. Thus, the synergistic and scarcely reported combination of photocatalyst with electro Fenton process was evaluated for the degradation of an emerging pollutant: the ionic liquid 1-butyl-2, 3-dimethyl imidazolium chloride. To increase the radiation leverage, a cyclic two-cell configuration reactor was set, so the photolysis is applied directly and without obstacles in one cell and the electrolysis in another. The effect of the catalyst synthesis method and the ratio Fe/TiO2 were evaluated. With the most active bifunctional catalyst, a deep study of the two-cell reactor was done in terms of recirculation flow, applied intensity and catalyst dosage. Under the best conditions (respectively, 480 mL min−1, 70 mA and 1 g L−1), complete pollutant removal (in 10 min) and high mineralization (100% in 2 h) was achieved. Encouragingly, the results were almost equal when degrading the model pollutant on a real wastewater matrix. The reusability of the catalyst was also confirmed after three trials without almost no detriment on the performance.