Nitrogen-doped Fe3C@C particles as an efficient heterogeneous photo-assisted Fenton catalyst

Abstract

Designing high-efficiency heterogeneous photo-assisted Fenton catalysts is the key to harnessing solar energy for promoting the Fenton process in water treatment. Herein we developed nitrogen-doped Fe₃C@C particles by thermally treating Fe₃O₄ precursor with dicyandiamide. The as-prepared Fe–N–C hybrid material was comprehensively characterized by electron microscopy, various spectroscopic techniques and so forth to confirm the compositions and structures. The band gap of nitrogen-doped Fe₃C@C particles was about 1.6 eV. Methylene blue was used as a model organic contaminant to test the photo-assisted Fenton activity of the nitrogen-doped Fe₃C@C particles, with optimal dosages of H₂O₂ and the catalyst itself, which showed excellent efficiency in removing the model contaminant, demonstrating that the as-prepared hybrids can work as a highly efficient photo-assisted Fenton catalyst.