Activation of persulfates by ferrocene–MIL-101(Fe) heterogeneous catalyst for degradation of bisphenol A

Abstract

In this study, a novel and high-performance catalyst was prepared and used as the heterogeneous catalyst to activate persulfate for bisphenol A (BPA) degradation. Ferrocene was anchored to NH₂-MIL-101(Fe) post-synthetically by the condensation of amine group from NH₂-MIL-101(Fe) with the carbonyl group of ferrocenecarboxaldehyde. The synthesized ferrocene tethered MIL-101(Fe)–ferrocene was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photo-electron spectra, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The ferrocene acts as a redox mediator, which makes the ferrocene functionalized NH₂-MIL-101(Fe) highly active in the degradation of BPA by accelerating the rate of the charge-transfer processes in aqueous solution. MIL-101(Fe)–Fc was proved to be the most effective catalyst, removing more than 99.9% of BPA. In addition, the catalyst can be reused without significant loss in activity.