Biomass Cellulose-Derived Carbon Aerogel Supported Magnetite-Copper Bimetallic Heterogeneous Fenton-like Catalyst Towards the Boosting Redox Cycle of ≡Fe(III)/≡Fe(II)

To degrade high-concentration and toxic organic effluents, we developed Fe-Cu active sites loaded on biomass-source carbon aerogel (CA) to produce a low-cost and high-efficiency magnetic Fenton-like catalyst for the catalytic oxidative decomposition of organic pollutants. It exhibits excellent performance in catalytic Fenton-like reactions for RhB removal at an ultrahigh initial concentration of up to 1000 ppm. To be specific, Fe₃O₄ and Cu nanoparticles are generated in situ on a mesoporous CA support, denoted as an Fe₃O₄-Cu/CA catalyst. Experimentally, factors including initial dye concentration, catalyst dosage, H₂O₂ dosage, pH, and temperature, which significantly influence the oxidative degradation rate of RhB, are carefully studied. The RhB (1000 ppm) degradation ratio reaches 93.7% within 60 min under low catalyst and H₂O₂ dosage. The catalyst also shows slight metal leaching (almost 1.4% of total Fe and 4.0% of total Cu leached after a complete degradation of 25 μmol RhB under conditions of 15 mg catalyst dosage, 20 mL RhB solution (600 ppm), and 200 μL 30 wt% H₂O₂ dosage, at pH of 2.5, at 40 °C), good catalytic activity for degrading organic pollutants, excellent reusability, and good catalytic stability (the degradation ratio is nearly 82.95% in the 8th cycle reaction). The synergistic effect between Fe and Cu species plays a vital role in promoting the redox cycle of Fe(III)/Fe(II) and enhancing the generation of ·OH. It is suitable for ultrahigh-concentration organic pollutant degradation in practical wastewater treatment applications.