CuO and CeO2 assisted Fe2O3 attapulgite catalyst for heterogeneous fenton-like oxidation of methylene blue

In this paper, CuO and CeO₂ were screened as co-catalyst components for Fe₂O₃/attapulgite (ATP) catalyst, and three new catalysts (CuO-Fe₂O₃/ATP, CeO₂-Fe₂O₃/ATP and CuO-CeO₂-Fe₂O₃/ATP) were prepared for degradation of methylene blue (MB). The three catalysts' characteristics were determined by BET, XRD, FT-IR, SEM and XPS. MB degradation in different systems and at different pH values was also studied. Under the conditions of H₂O₂ concentration of 4.9 mmol L^-1, catalyst dosage of 5 g L^-1, pH of 5, reaction temperature of 60 ℃ and MB initial concentration of 100 mg L^-1, the as-synthesized catalysts showed much greater reaction rate and degradation efficiency of MB than Fe₂O₃/ATP catalyst. In addition, the reusability of the as-prepared composites was evaluated. The intermediate products of MB degradation were identified by LC-MS and the possible degradation process of MB was put forward.