Construction of Co-doped Fe2O3/carbonized melamine foam heterogeneous catalyst for enhanced degradation of organic pollutants through peroxymonosulfate activation

Co-doped Fe2O3/carbonized melamine foam heterogeneous catalyst (CMF/Co-Fe2O3) was prepared by hydrothermal method. Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation was employed as a model test for evaluating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. The degradation efficiency of RhB can reach 97 % in the catalyst dosage (50 mg/L), PMS concentration (100 mg/L), pH = 7 and RhB initial concentration (10 mg/L) after 60 min reaction. The reaction rate constant is 10 times higher than that of CMF/Fe2O3 and the activation ability of PMS is greatly improved. The degradation efficiency of RhB can be inhibited by increasing the initial mass concentration of RhB and pH value. The effect of temperature on the degradation rate of RhB conforms to the Arrhenius model, and the degradation process is a surface reaction controlled process. The results of free radical capture experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiments showed that SO4¯ was the main active free radical for RhB degradation. After four cycles, the degradation efficiency of RhB still maintains 80 % with CMF/10 %Co-Fe2O3 catalyst. The heterogeneous catalyst exhibited potential application in the field of degradation of dye wastewater due to its excellent cycling stability.