One-pot synthesis of iron-copper-embedded porous carbon from alginate for activating persulfate towards Orange G decolorization

Abstract

In recent years, multifunctional materials have garnered significant attention due to their potential to possess multiple properties and functionalities simultaneously. Herein, a novel one-pot pyrolysis was employed to facilely prepare iron (Fe0) and copper (Cu0) nanoparticles (23 ± 4 nm) embedded in porous carbon (FeCu/PC). The as-synthesized nanocomposite had a SBET of 136 m2/g, a Vtotal of 0.133 cm3/g, and a hierarchical porous structure. In addition, its MS of 10.7 emu/g aids in simple and effective separation using external magnetic fields. For application, 1.00 g/L FeCu/PC activated 3.00 mM persulfate (PS) to decolorize 93.7 % of 25 ppm Orange G (OG) after 120 min at initial pH 7.0 and 30 °C. The combination of Fe and Cu could promote the synergistic effect, which resulted in more effective PS activation over a wide pH range. With the chemical activation, the activation energy (EA) of OG decolorization was only 36 kJ/mol. Overall, the multifunctional FeCu/PC material proved not only potential magnetic separability but also effectiveness in activating PS during OG treatment.

Keywords

• Zero-valent iron
• Zero-valent copper
• Alginate
• Porous carbon
• One-pot strategy
• Persulfate activation