Biomimetic preparation of ternary heterogeneous catalyst derived from biopolymer in biological sludge and synergistic effects in Fenton process

Biopolymer (BioP) was extracted from waste activated sludge and the ternary catalyst BioP@PANI@Fe3O4 was prepared by biomimetic method. Control experiments proved the synergistic effects of the components in BioP@PANI@Fe3O4. The degradation of high concentration of model pollutant proved its good performance as the heterogeneous Fenton catalyst.The high utilization efficiency of H2O2 and wide oprational pH range showed the promising application of BioP@PANI@Fe3O4 in the oxidative degradation of organic pollutants. The possible reaction mechanism on the surface of BioP@PANI@Fe3O4 lies in that PANI provide the acidic condition and the initially generated ≡Fe(II) species react with H2O2 to generate •OH, which destroy the organic dyes adsorbed onto catalyst surface. The redox process Fe(III)→Fe(II) take place easily due to convenient electro transfer in PANI and reduction power of functional groups in BioP.