Magnetic carbon microspheres as a reusable catalyst in heterogeneous Fenton system for the efficient degradation of phenol in wastewater

Starch-based magnetic carbon microspheres (MCMs) were successfully synthesized by the hydrothermal method to degrade the simulating phenol-containing wastewater. The morphology and structure of the as-prepared MCMs were characterized by SEM, FT-IR, XRD, and VSM in detail. The characterization results showed that the presence of magnetic Fe3O4 in MCMs was conducive to the efficient removal of phenol in the Fenton system. When pH = 3, V(H2O2) = 0.30 mL, m(MCMs) = 3.0 g, T = 40 degrees C, and t = 12 h, the degradation rate of phenol reached a maximum of 93.11%. After six repeated use, the degradation rate of phenol by MCMs still attained 85.14%, showing excellent reusability, which was extremely attractive to removing actual phenol-containing wastewater. The growth test of water spinach further confirmed that MCMs could effectively reduce the harmfulness of phenol to aquatic plants, indicating it was expected to become a promising material for the practical dephenolization application. Finally, the degradation mechanism of phenol in wastewater was proposed based on the experimental.