Copper-promoted heterogeneous Fenton-like oxidation of Rhodamine B over Fe 3 O 4 magnetic nanocatalysts at mild conditions

Rhodamine B (RhB) is used in various industries and its effluent must be effectively treated because of its harmful and carcinogenic nature. In this work, ionothermally synthesized Cu-doped Fe O magnetic nanoparticles (Cu-Fe O MNPs) were found to be a highly efficient heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst for complete decolorization of the RhB solution with H O at pH ~ 7 and 25 °C. The effects of the catalyst loading, initial concentrations of RhB and H O , co-existing natural organic matter and inorganic salts, reaction temperature, and radical scavengers on the catalytic performance of Cu-Fe O were investigated. Monte-Carlo simulations revealed that copper dopants facilitated the activation of H O via adopting a terminal end-on adsorption mode and increased collision frequency by bringing the RhB molecules closer to H O and the magnetite surface. These theoretical calculations provide new insight into the promotional effect of copper dopants in magnetite at molecular level.