Degradation of Acid Blue 29 in visible light radiation using iron modified mesoporous silica as heterogeneous Photo-Fenton catalyst

The evaluation of heterogeneous Fenton degradation on dye pollutant, Acid Blue 29 (AB29), has been investigated. The solid catalyst prepared by both sol–gel and incipient wetness impregnation methods was developed by occlusion of Fe3+ ions on synthesized mesoporous silica from sodium silicate. The prepared catalysts were characterized for their textural and surface morphology. High concentration of soluble metal precursor with 8.0 wt% Fe3+ can be easily deposited on silica. The results showed that the Fe-SiO2 catalyst demonstrated good performance in the degradation of 50 ppm Acid Blue 29 (AB29) which was nearly completed in 100 min under visible light irradiation with optimum operating conditions at 0.4 g Fe-SiO2/L, pH 3.0 and 10 mM H2O2. A possible mechanism on visible light irradiated Fenton process was proposed. The catalyst is reusable over four consecutive cycles and minimal leaching of iron ions (<0.5 ppm) was observed.

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► Effective mesoporous solid Fe-SiO2 catalyst was developed using sodium silicate as silica support.
► Fe3+ occluded in the alternative silicate support serves as active center for degradation recalcitrant Acid Blue 29.
► Visible light photocatalytic activity of the heterogeneous catalyst is more cost-efficient with high performance.
► The catalyst is reusable over four consecutive cycles and minimal leaching of iron ions.