Cu–Fe Incorporated Graphene-Oxide Nanocomposite as Highly Efficient Catalyst in the Degradation of Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) from Aqueous Solution

Abstract

Fe/graphene oxide and Cu–Fe/graphene oxide nanocomposite were synthesized by the atomic implantation method to study the photocatalytic degradation of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by the XRD, N2 isotherms, SEM with EDX, TEM and XPS analysis. Characterization results have reported that oxides of Cu and Fe were uniformly distributed on graphene oxide and exited in the form of Cu+ and Fe2+ ions in Cu–Fe/graphene oxide nanocomposite. The high photocatalytic DDT removal efficiency 99.7% was obtained for Cu–Fe/graphene oxide under the optimal condition of 0.2 g/L catalyst, 15 mg/L H2O2 and pH 5. It was attributed to the reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+ by Cu+ ions and –OH radicals formation. However, it was dropped to 90.4% in the recycling study by leaching of iron and without a change in phase structure and morphology. Graphic Abstract

Graphene Oxide (GO) Materials—Applications and Toxicity on Living Organisms and Environment

“…It was observed that oxides of Cu and Fe were distributed equally on GO and were present as Cu + and Fe 2+ ions in the Cu–Fe/GO nanocomposite. Compared to Fe/GO, Cu–Fe/GO nanocomposites exhibited high photocatalytic DDT removal, reaching 99.7% at 0.2 g/L catalysts, 15 mg/L H 2 O 2 , and pH 5 through the generation of −OH radicals, which improved the DDT elimination ability [ 82 ].…”