Catalytic wet air oxidation of phenol over Co-doped Fe3O4 nanoparticles

The Fe3O4 nanoparticles doped with cobalt ions have been successfully synthesized by the co-precipitation process. The X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the as-prepared nanoparticles. The results show that the phase structure of the nanoparticles is spinel structure of pure Fe3O4 with the particle size ranging from 40 to 50 nm. The Co-doping concentration can be controlled by changing the atomic ratio of the stock materials. The catalytic activity of the Co-doped Fe3O4 was further investigated by decomposing the phenol in liquid phase. The results show that cobalt ions doping can improve the catalytic efficiency of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in phenol degradation with catalytic reaction fitting the first-order kinetics. According to the estimated reaction rate of Co-doped Fe3O4 nanoparticles at different temperatures, the activation energy was calculated to be 45.63 kJ/mol.