Fabrication of magnetic carbon composites from peanut shells and its application as a heterogeneous Fenton catalyst in removal of methylene blue

•Novel peanut shell magnetic carbon (PMC) catalysts were successfully synthesized.•PMC exhibited superior activity as a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst.•A high efficient Fenton-like system was set up for removal MB.•PMC posed excellent catalysis oxidation quality, stability and good reusability.

Magnetic carbons were prepared from agricultural waste peanut shells and Ferric ammonium oxalate via a simple impregnation and carbonization process. The obtained composites were characterized by element analysis, MÖssbauer spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometry and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area method, respectively. The magnetic carbon material was used as catalyst of heterogeneous Fenton reaction to remove methylene blue with the help of persulfate in waste water. The results indicated that both the removal rate and removal efficiency of this catalytic system are very excellent. The degradation efficiency was best (90% within 30 min) using initial concentrations of 0.5 g L−1 persulfate and 40 mg L−1 methylene blue. The removal mechanism was investigated by LC-MS. The catalyst retained its activity after seven reuses, indicating its good stability and reusability. It is inexpensive because it consists mainly of agricultural waste. Its porosity contributed to its high activity, which was achieved without any additional activation process. These indicating that the catalyst is potentially useful in the treatment of wastewater.

Graphical abstractPeanut shell magnetic carbon (PMC) were fabricated by carbonized the mixture of peanut shells and (NH4)3Fe(C2O4)3. The obtained PMC exhibit high efficiency in catalysis oxidation methylene blue with the help of K2S2O8 and it can be easily separated from aqueous by external magnetic field. Meanwhile, the catalyst can be reused for seven times almost without decreased of activity.Download full-size image