Photocatalytic activity of copper ferrite graphene oxide particles for an efficient catalytic degradation of Reactive Black 5 in water

Abstract The photocatalytic performance of copper ferrite graphene oxide catalyst, CFXGO (CF: Copper ferrite, CuFe2O4; GO: Graphene oxide; X: GO weight percentage) was tested for photo Fenton-like oxidation of Reactive Black 5 by using UV light irradiation. The effect of the graphene oxide content in the catalyst structure on dye removal efficiency was tested by comparing the performances of the catalysts with different weight ratios of graphene oxide varying between 5 and 90%. The catalysts were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method, and, Vibrating Sample Magnetometer. The influences of catalyst loading, initial pH, and, the H2O2 concentration were investigated in the presence of CF90GO catalyst, which has 90% graphene oxide content. According to the parametric studies, 98.2% decolorization and 82.8% TOC removal efficiencies were achieved in 2 h for the treatment of 50 mg/L RB5 solutions when the catalyst loading, the initial pH, and, the initial hydrogen peroxide concentration were 0.275 g/L, 7, and, 5.5 mM, respectively.