Controllable synthesis of Fe5(PO4)4(OH)3·2H2O as a highly efficient heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst

What is it about?

Fe5(PO4)4(OH)3$2H2O has been successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal process. The effects of hydrothermal temperature and pH value on the morphologies and sizes of the Fe5(PO4)4(OH)3$2H2O particles were investigated. The Fe5(PO4)4(OH)3$2H2O photocatalyst showed lower photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation. But the heterogeneous Fenton-like Fe5(PO4)4(OH)3$2H2O with H2O2 showed highly efficient photocatalytic activity in the photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue. Effective electron transfer from the visible light-excited dyes to Fe(III), which leads to regeneration of Fe(II) and an easy cycle of Fe(III)/Fe(II), results in much faster degradation and mineralization of methylene blue in the photo-Fenton reaction under visible light irradiation.

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Why is it important?

To date, investigations have mainly focused on three types of materials: an iron–oxygen series of compounds; Fe-immobilized materials; and natural Fe-containing materials. These heterogeneous Fenton and Fenton-like catalysts were demonstrated to be useful to treat various organic pollutants in water over a wide applicable pH range. However, many of them did not show favorable catalytic activity. In this sense, it is a challenging issue to develop novel heterogeneous Fenton-like catalysts with higher catalytic activity.

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