Controllable synthesis of sphere- and star-like Fe₅ (PO₄)₄(OH) ₃•2H₂O microcrystals for effective photo-Fenton-like degradation of rhodamine B

ABSTRACT

Sphere- and star-like Fe₅(PO₄)₄(OH)₃•2H₂O (FPOH) microcrystals with mean size of 10–50 μm have been successfully prepared by a rapidly hydrothermal method with proper addition of mannitol (ML) and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and used as Fenton-like catalysts for degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) in wastewater, respectively. The results showed that the sphere-like FPOH microcrystals exhibited higher photo-Fenton catalytic performance compared with the star-like FPOH microcrystals at the same experimental condition. The reason of improved photo-Fenton degradation was ascribed to the excellent visible light absorption property of sphere-like FPOH microcrystals.

KEYWORDS:

• Iron hydroxyl phosphate
• controllable synthesis
• photo-Fenton-like degradation
• organic pollutants

Funding

This study was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Education Department of Anhui Province (Grant No. KJ2015A170) and Natural Science Foundation of Hefei University (Grant No. 8ZR, 13RC09).