A novel composite Fe-N/O catalyst for the effective enhancement of oxidative capacity of persulfate at ambient temperature

•A novel composite Fe-N/O greatly enhanced the oxidative capacity of persulfate.•The ratio of Fe to melamine was optimized for AR 73 degradation by persulfate.•The interface of Fe3N and Fe3O4 might be active center for activating persulfate.•The dominant growth planes of Crystal of composite Fe-N/O affected its activity.

This study reports on the synthesis of a novel composite Fe-N/O catalyst for the enhancement of oxidative capacity of persulfate at ambient temperature. The fabricated composite was characterized by XRD, FTIR and TEM techniques. Results showed that the composite Fe-N/O catalyst consist of Fe3N and Fe3O4 crystal phases. The performance of Fe-N/O in the oxidation of Acid Red 73 (AR 73) by persulfate was investigated and it was found that the decolorization efficiency and total organic carbon removal (TOC) were 96% and 72.5% in 10 min at 22 °C, respectively. It was concluded that the interface between the Fe3N and Fe3O4 phases might account for the high efficiency observed.