Prompt degradation of organic pollutants renders microwave (MW) catalysis technology extremely lucrative; ideal microwave catalysts are therefore being hunted with an unprecedented urgency. Ideal functional microwave catalyst should be highly crystalline, room temperature ferromagnetic (for magnetic retrieval), highly dielectric (for sufficient microwave absorption) apart from being structurally stable at high temperature. The potential of silver ferrite 2D sheets (2D AFO) synthesized using a novel microwave technique as a microwave catalyst for the degradation of a variety of organic dyes and antibiotics was investigated in this article. While organic dyes like malachite green (MG), brilliant green (BG) and nile blue A (NB) achieved 99.2%, 98.8% and 95.2%, respectively; antibiotic tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) molecule resulted in 75.8% degradation efficiency. Total organic carbon (TOC) measurements yielded 76%, 59.1%, 49.1% and 47.6% of carbon content for MG, BG, NB and TCH, respectively. The reaction pathway via intermediates and subsequent degradation to CO2 and H2O is revealed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS). Both superoxide and hydroxyl radicals are participating in the process, according to scavenger tests. The evolution of silver ferrite as a new 2D material and its demonstration as an ideal microwave catalyst will lead to a new beginning in catalysis science and technology.
Keywords: 2D sheets; Antibiotics; Dyes; Microwave; Organic pollutants; Silver ferrite.
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