Iron-copper bimetallic nanoparticles embedded within ordered mesoporous carbon as effective and stable heterogeneous Fenton catalyst for the degradation of organic contaminants

Iron-copper bimetallic nanoparticles embedded within ordered mesoporous carbon composite catalyst (CuFe-MC) was synthesized via a “one-pot” block-copolymer self-assembly strategy. The catalyst was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), etc. The results showed the catalyst was ordered 2D hexagonal mesostructure and iron-copper nanoparticles highly dispersed in the matrix of ordered mesoporous carbon. The composite was used as a heterogeneous Fenton catalyst and showed a promising application in the degradation of non-biodegradation organic contaminants. Eight organic compounds were chosen as model contaminants, such as phenol, bisphenol A (BPA), etc. Efficient total organic carbon (TOC) removal of each organic contaminant was achieved by using CuFe-MC as catalyst, which was higher than that by Fe2+ ion at the same reaction condition. BPA was selected to further investigate the high catalytic activity of CuFe-MC. CuFe-MC presented high adsorption capacity for BPA due to its high BET surface area (639 m2 g−1) and mesostructure. The results of BPA degradation showed that the catalytic activity of CuFe-MC was much higher than Fe-MC and Cu-MC. Electron spin resonance (ESR) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) results indicated that the concentration of generated hydroxyl radicals (•OH) with CuFe-MC was much higher than Fe-MC and Cu-MC. The low iron leaching of CuFe-MC suggested its good stability. Moreover, it could be easily separated by using an external magnet after the reaction and remained good activity after being recycled for several times, demonstrating its promising long-term application in the treatment of wastewater.