Enhanced redox cycle of Fe3+/Fe2+ on Fe@NC by boron: Fast electron transfer and long-term stability for Fenton-like reaction

Jun Wang; Tianzhu Xie; Xiaomei Liu; Di Wu; Yang Li; Zhe Wang; Xiaobin Fan; Fengbao Zhang; Wenchao Peng

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130605

Enhanced redox cycle of Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ on Fe@NC by boron: Fast electron transfer and long-term stability for Fenton-like reaction

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Mar 5:445:130605. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130605. Epub 2022 Dec 13.

Authors

Jun Wang¹, Tianzhu Xie¹, Xiaomei Liu¹, Di Wu¹, Yang Li², Zhe Wang³, Xiaobin Fan², Fengbao Zhang¹, Wenchao Peng⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China.
² School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; Institute of Shaoxing, Tianjin University, Zhejiang 312300, China.
³ Division of Environment and Sustainability, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
⁴ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; Institute of Shaoxing, Tianjin University, Zhejiang 312300, China. Electronic address: wenchao.peng@tju.edu.cn.

PMID: 37056016
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130605

Abstract

In this work, Fe@NC/B material is successfully synthesized and in-situ supported on the surface of amorphous boron (B) using a simple pyrolysis method. The interface between Fe species and B is improved by introducing N-doped carbon (NC) layers as intermediate, fast electron transfer from B to Fe@NC can therefore be achieved, thus could promote the fast redox cycle of Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺. The obtained material can therefore activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) effectively to degrade Bisphenol A (BPA), a fast degradation rate and a very long lifetime in a continous tubular reactor are realized. Moreover, experiments and DFT calculation indicate that Fe²⁺ containing species are the dominated active sites, while the exposed B atoms and structure defect of B can also activate PMS directly to produce SO₄^•- and ¹O₂ species for BPA degradation. In addition, boric acid is the oxidation product of B, which can be dissolved into the aqueous solution and expose fresh B species again for PMS activation. The combination of B with Fe@NC provide novel materials for long term PMS activation, thus could promote the real application of persulfates on an industrial scale.

Keywords: Amorphous boron; Electron transfer; Fe(3+)/Fe(2+) redox cycle; Intimate contact; Long-term stability.