Biomimetic preparation of ternary heterogeneous catalyst derived from biopolymer in biological sludge and synergistic effects in Fenton process

¹ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, Jiangsu Province, China
² School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, Jiangsu Province, China

^a Corresponding author:huifangxie@njust.edu.cn

Abstract

Biopolymer (BioP) was extracted from waste activated sludge and the ternary catalyst BioP@PANI@Fe₃O₄ was prepared by biomimetic method. Control experiments proved the synergistic effects of the components in BioP@PANI@Fe₃O₄. The degradation of high concentration of model pollutant proved its good performance as the heterogeneous Fenton catalyst.The high utilization efficiency of H₂O₂ and wide oprational pH range showed the promising application of BioP@PANI@Fe₃O₄ in the oxidative degradation of organic pollutants. The possible reaction mechanism on the surface of BioP@PANI@Fe₃O₄ lies in that PANI provide the acidic condition and the initially generated ≡Fe(II) species react with H₂O₂ to generate •OH, which destroy the organic dyes adsorbed onto catalyst surface. The redox process Fe(III)→Fe(II) take place easily due to convenient electro transfer in PANI and reduction power of functional groups in BioP.