Effect of rGO loading on Fe 3 O 4: A visible light assisted catalyst material for carbamazepine degradation

Mokrema Moztahida, Jiseon Jang, Mohsin Nawaz, Seong Rin Lim, Dae Sung Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

76 Scopus citations

Abstract

Carbamazepine (CBZ), an anticonvulsant drug, is one of the most recalcitrant pharmaceuticals detected in wastewater. For the photocatalytic degradation of CBZ, visible light assisted heterogeneous Fenton-like hybrid composites were synthesized via a co-precipitation method by anchoring magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) with reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The rGO loading not only reduced the aggregation of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles, but also increased the adsorption capacity of the hybrid composites. The mass ratio of rGO in the composites substantially affected CBZ photocatalytic degradation and a 10 wt% rGO loading (rGF10) provided nearly complete CBZ degradation within 3 h. Moreover, the addition of rGO reduced the charge recombination of the bare Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles and provided more accessible reactive sites, enhancing the degradation capacity. The visible light excited Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles yielded reactive species such as hydroxyl radicals (·OH), holes (h + ), and superoxide radicals (O 2 · ) during the photodegradation process that were evaluated by using specific scavengers during the degradation experiment. The hybrid catalyst was effective under wide pH ranges (from 3 to 9) and showed faster degradation rates in the acidic condition. The composites were magnetically separable, easily regenerated, and exhibited considerably high photocatalytic activity up to five cycles.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)741-750
Number of pages10
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume667
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2019

Keywords

  • Carbamazepine
  • Fenton-like heterogeneous catalyst
  • Photocatalytic degradation
  • Reduced graphene oxide-loaded-magnetite composite
  • Solar light

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