Iron nanoparticles supported ordered mesoporous CeO2, an efcient catalyst for photo‑Fenton oxidation of phenol under irradiation

Abstract

Mesoporous CeO2-supported iron nanoparticles were prepared by the hard tem plate method with diferent iron loading. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET, UV–Vis, ICP, SEM–EDX, MET and TPR. The catalysts showed high activity and stability in the photo-Fenton oxidation of aqueous phenol solution using near ultraviolet irradiation (254 nm) at room temperature and neutral pH. The catalytic performance has been monitored in terms of aromatics and total organic carbon (TOC), and phenol conversion. Also, a comparative study between the CeO2 activity and catalysts was monitored which demonstrates that iron has a synergistic efect in the phenol photo-Fenton oxidation. Moreover, the formation of OH· and O2· radi cals accelerates the process by reducing Fe3+ to Fe2+ and Ce4+ to Ce3+ which leads to a total phenol oxidation at short time process. The total phenol conversion was obtained at 15 min with Fe/CeO2(60) and 20 min with Fe/CeO2(20)