In-situ formed N-doped bamboo-like carbon nanotubes encapsulated with Fe nanoparticles supported by biochar as highly efficient catalyst for activation of persulfate (PS) toward degradation of…

By K. Zhu, Bin Qiong, Shen Yaqian, Jin Huang, Dongdong He, Chen Wenjin. 2020

286 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract In this study, N-doped bamboo-like carbon nanotubes encapsulated with Fe nanoparticles (Fe NPs) on the surface of soybean dregs-derived biochar (Fe@NCNT − BC) was synthesized via a low-cost and facile strategy. The unique composites behaved as efficient catalysts for the degradation of various organic pollutants by the activation of persulfate (PS). Under the conditions of [PS] = 5 mM, [RhB] = 20 mg/L, [Fe@NCNT-BC-800] = 1.0 g/L, pH = 7.0, the RhB degradation rate was very fast reaching up to 100% within 10 min. The system also exhibited significant high activity in a broad pH window (3.0–11.0). Meanwhile, the recycling experiments and Fe leaching tests further demonstrated the stability of Fe@NCNT − BC during the activation of PS. Most interestingly, the Fe nanoparticles played a key role in promoting the degree of graphitization and the formation of bamboo-like N-doped carbon nanotubes. Besides, the introduction of biochar significantly improved the dispersion ability to the Fe@NCNT − BC. The competitive radical quenching tests and electron paramagnetic resonance measurements (ESR) illustrated that instead of the traditional radicals (sulfate radicals and hydroxyl radicals), the non-radical singlet oxygen (1O2) was the dominant reactive oxidative species (ROS) in the Fe@NCNT-BC/PS system. A mechanistic study suggested that pyridinic N, graphitic N, sp2-hybridized carbon structure and C = O bond in the Fe@NCNT − BC − 800 promoted the generation of the ROS. This study successfully provides an economic and feasible method for synthesis of a novel catalyst as an eco-friendly and efficient material for the degradation of organic pollutants in the environment.

Subfields: Mechanical Engineering, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, Water Science and Technology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3583f906a9f802674c08883aa67f5390f7a09c34