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In this study, core-shell Fe@Fe2O3 nanowires with different iron oxide shell thickness were synthesized through tuning water-aging time after the reduction of ferric ions with sodium borohydride without any stirring. We found that these Fe@Fe2O3 nanowires exhibited interesting core-shell structure dependent reactivity on the aerobic degradation of 4-chlorophenol. Characterization results revealed that the core-shell structure dependent aerobic oxidative reactivity of Fe@Fe2O3 nanowires was arisen from the combined effects of incrassated iron oxide shell and more surface bound ferrous ions on amorphous iron oxide shell formed during the water-aging process. The incrassated iron oxide shell would gradually block the outward electron transfer from iron core for the subsequent two-electron molecular oxygen activation, but more surface bound ferrous ions on iron oxide shell with prolonging aging time could favor the single-electron molecular oxygen activation, which was confirmed by electron spin resonance spectroscopy with spin trap technique. The mineralization of 4-chlorophenol was monitored by total organic carbon measurement and the oxidative degradation intermediates were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This study provides new physical insight on the molecular oxygen activation mechanism of nanoscale zerovalent iron and its application on aerobic pollutant removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic nanoscaled Fe3O4/CeO2 composite was prepared by the impregnation method and characterized as a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst for 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) degradation. The catalytic activity was evaluated in view of the effects of various processes, pH value, catalyst addition, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration, and temperature, and the pseudo-first-order kinetic constant of 0.11 min-1 was obtained for 4-CP degradation at 30 °C and pH 3.0 with 30 mM H2O2, 2.0 g L-1 Fe3O4/CeOs, and 0.78 mM 4-CP. The high utilization efficiency of H2O2, calculated as 79.2%, showed a promising application of the catalyst in the oxidative degradation of organic pollutants. The reusability of Fe3O4/CeO2 composite was also investigated after six successive runs. On the basis of the results of metal leaching, the effects of radical scavengers, intermediates determination, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis, the dissolution of Fe3O4 facilitated by CeO2 played a significant role, and 4-CP was decomposed mainly by the attack of hydroxyl radicals (•OH), including surface-bound •OHads generated by the reaction of Fe2+ and Ce3+ species with H2O2 on the catalyst surface, and •OHfree in the bulk solution mainly attributed to the leaching of Fe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indium borate has been prepared by a sol-gel method. The structure, morphology, and photophysics of the resultant photocatalysts have been studied via the techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and diffuse reflectance UV-visible light spectroscopy. These photocatalysts have been used to photodegrade 4-chlorophenol. The photocatalytic activity depends on the annealing temperature during preparation. It is found that borates can exhibit a high photodegradation activity under UV-light irradiation, for which the efficiency can be higher than that of as-prepared TiO2. This is explained according to the results of fluorescence spectra and valence band X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It is confirmed by the results of time-resolved photoluminescence decay spectra; i.e., the lifetime of electrons and holes involved in the radiative process can be longer for the borates than that for TiO2. This implies that indium borate can be a promising photocatalyst for future applications in treatment of environment contaminants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]