Bifunctional Fenton-like catalyst enabling oxidative and reductive removal of contaminants synergically in chemical reagent-free aerated solution

This study demonstrated the performance of Fe2O3 nanorods-loaded carbon nanofiber sheet (Fe2O3/CNF) as a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst for simultaneous removal of various organic and inorganic contaminants without external energy input and chemical reagents. Fe2O3/CNF exhibited notable activities for spontaneous oxidative degradation and reductive transformation in ambient solution, with a synergistic effect for removing dual contaminants (organic||inorganic). The synergistic redox conversions on Fe2O3/CNF were facilitated by the in-situ generation of oxidant and reductant. The additional oxidant can be generated by the reaction of chromium species with in-situ produced H2O2 while the additional reductant can be generated by the incomplete oxidation of organic contaminants. Various spectroscopic characterizations and mechanistic analyses suggest that simul-taneous redox conversions are induced by spontaneous electron transfers on Fe2O3/CNF. Furthermore, a flow-reactor equipped with Fe2O3/CNF achieved the simultaneous removal of dual contaminants, making it an effective reactive filter that operates without chemical reagents for water treatment.