Enhanced photo Fenton-like activity by effective and stable Al–Sm M-hexaferrite heterogenous catalyst magnetically detachable for methylene blue degradation

Abstract Nano-compositing technologies are getting enhanced attention due to unique catalytic and separation activity with advanced characteristics for dye wastewater treatment. In this study, novel easily separable Ba–Sr based Al–Sm substituted M-hexaferrites (BASF-NPs) were fabricated as a highly effective heterogenous photo-Fenton-like catalysts via sol-gel route. The analytical techniques were applied to investigate BASF-NPs characteristics such as TGA, XRD, FTIR, XPS, SEM/TEM/EDS, UV–Vis, BET and VSM analysis. The results revealed that all fabricated BASF-NPs showed excellent photo-Fenton-like catalytic performance towards Methylene Blue (MB) degradation. Virtually complete degradation of an initial 10 mg/L MB was achieved under optimal conditions (i.e. 16 mM H2O2 and 0.25 g/L BASF-NPs) within 140 min of UV-irradiated reaction time and followed pseudo-first order reaction kinetic at the rate of 6.514 × 10−2 min−1. Similar degradation trend was noticed at various pH levels (pH 3–12), signifying the efficiency of the NPs at wide pH range. Due to the intrinsic magnetic nature of BASF-NPs, it was readily recoverable by external magnetic field and exposed strong capacity for dye removal treatment. The photo-catalysts retained its performance after four consecutive cycles, indicating robust reusability and excellent stability.