Synergetic effect of Fe2O3 and Na2WO4 piezo catalyst to remove pharmaceuticals waste in water

Abstract

High efficiency and stability are two crucial factors in piezocatalysis reactions. In this research, the efficiency of Fe2O3 piezo catalysts significantly increased by coupling it with Na2WO4. Results indicate that Fe2O3 and Na2WO4 have a synergetic effect on the degradation of Amoxicillin (AMX), with Fe2O3/Na2WO4 degrading 88 % of AMX in the same conditions that pure Fe2O3 and Na2WO4 degrade only 42 % and 20.6 %, respectively. The degradation efficiency of Fe2O3 was improved by 114 % when it was coupled with Na2WO4. Fe2O3/Na2WO4 piezo catalyst was successfully used in 8 cycles while it keeps almost 85 % of its efficiency which indicates the stability of prepared piezo catalysts. Studying the mechanism of degradation by Fe2O3/Na2WO4 revealed that superoxide free radicals have a critical function in the decomposition of AMX. The kinetic study also indicates that at lower temperatures, the reaction follows a first-order reaction.

Keywords

• Piezo catalyst
• Degradation
• Synergetic effect
• Nano
• Composite stability