A novel CoFe2O4@Cr-MIL-101/Y zeolite ternary nanocomposite as a magnetically separable sonocatalyst for efficient sonodegradation of organic dye contaminants from water

Abstract

In this research, a novel magnetic sonocatalyst nanocomposite, CoFe₂O₄@Cr-MIL-101/Y zeolite, has been successfully fabricated employing a simple hydrothermal method. The as-prepared catalyst was thoroughly identified using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), EDS elemental dot-mapping, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and nitrogen Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (N₂-BET) analyses. The procured CoFe₂O₄@Cr-MIL-101/Y nanocomposite was then assessed for the decomposition of three types of organic dyes namely methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO) from water solution using ultrasound irradiation and subsequently monitored via UV-Vis absorption technique. The sonodecomposition reactions of organic dyes were accomplished in the presence of the H₂O₂ solution as a green oxidizing agent. Furthermore, the influence of various experimental independent factors such as irradiation time, process type, initial dye concentration, catalyst dosage, H₂O₂ concentration, scavenger type, and catalyst regeneration on the decomposition of MB, RhB and MO were surveyed. Additionally, a first order kinetic model was applied to investigate the sonodecomposition reactions of dye contaminants. The rate constant (k) and half-life (t_1/2) data were gained as 0.0675 min⁻¹ and 10.2666 min, respectively, for the decomposition of MB in the US/H₂O₂/CoFe₂O₄@Cr-MIL-101/Y system. Besides, evaluating the attained results, the distinctive performance of ˙OH as the radical scavenger originating from H₂O₂ throughout the sonodecomposition process is vividly approved.