Comparative studies on Fenton-like reactions catalyzed by Fe3O4 loaded inside and outside halloysite nanotubes for the removal of organic pollutants

• Published in: Frontiers of materials science Vol. 18; no. 1
• Main Authors: Li, Yang, Zhou, Jia-Qi, Xu, Huan-Yan, Dong, Li-Min, Cao, Mao-Chang, Shan, Lian-Wei, Jin, Li-Guo, He, Xiu-Lan, Qi, Shu-Yan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Higher Education Press 01.03.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adsorption; Chemical reactions; Chemistry and Materials Science; Comparative studies; Hydrogen peroxide; Hydroxyl radicals; Hysteresis loops; Iron oxides; Materials Science; Nanoparticles; Nanotubes; Pollutants; Research Article; Rhodamine; halloysite nanotube; Fenton-like reaction; adsorption; mechanism; Fe; O
• ISSN: 2095-025X; 2095-0268
• DOI: 10.1007/s11706-024-0673-0

In this work, Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (NPs) loaded inside and outside halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were prepared and developed as the heterogeneous Fenton-like catalysts for the removal of representative organic pollutants. Characterization results indicated that the samples with Fe 3 O 4 NPs loaded outside the HNTs lumen (Fe 3 O 4 /HNTs) and inside the HNTs lumen (Fe 3 O 4 @HNTs) were successfully prepared. Both samples had typical magnetic hysteresis loops, while Fe 3 O 4 @HNTs exhibited higher magnetization intensity. The comparative experiments showed that Fe 3 O 4 @HNTs had better Fenton-like catalytic ability than that of Fe 3 O 4 /HNTs in the degradation of various organic pollutants. Taking Rhodamine B (RhB) as an example, the adsorption thermodynamics and kinetics of RhB onto Fe 3 O 4 /HNTs and Fe 3 O 4 @HNTs were also investigated. The comparative results demonstrated that the adsorption ability of Fe 3 O 4 /HNTs was better than that of Fe 3 O 4 @HNTs. Moreover, the dissolved concentration of Fe 2+ and production amount of hydroxyl radical (·OH) in the Fe 3 O 4 @HNTs-H 2 O 2 system were significantly higher than those in the Fe 3 O 4 /HNTs-H 2 O 2 system. Based on aforementioned comparison, the nano-confinement effect in the Fe 3 O 4 @HNTs-H 2 O 2 system was verified. This work provides meaningful guidance for the cheap and convenient design of nanoreactors for Fenton-like applications.