Magnetic nanoparticles supported bimetallic Co-Cu as a catalyst for reductive degradation of hazardous organic compounds in water

Herein, silica-core shell magnetic nanoparticles were functionalized with imidazolium-based ionic liquid and 3-amino-1,2-propanediol, and the resulting hydrophilic media was used to stabilize bimetallic CoCu species. The structure of this new composite, Fe3O4@ILD-CoCu, was identified and analyzed by various techniques including TEM, XRD, XPS, VSM, FT-IR, EDX, and SEM Mapping. In the following, its catalytic performance was investigated in the reduction of nitrophenol compounds including 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), 3-nitrophenol (3-NP), and 2-nitrophenol (2-NP), decolorization of organic dyes such as methyl orange (MO), methyl red (MR), and rhodamine B (Rh B) and degradation of tetracycline and the results showed that the mentioned compounds participated properly in the reduction and degradation reactions. The research results showed that bimetallic cobalt-copper catalyst performs much better than monometallic cobalt and copper catalysts. The recyclability of the desired magnetic catalyst was also investigated and showed 14 runs of recyclability without a significant reduction in catalytic activity.