Heterogeneous Fenton-like activity of novel metallosalophen magnetic nanocomposites: Significant anchoring group effect

Abstract

Two new pyridine and thiolate anchoring groups were prepared to functionalize γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles for coordinative attachment of simple Fe(iii)- and Mn(iii)salophen complexes. Four new magnetically recoverable composites were characterized by several analytical techniques such as FT-IR, XRD, TGA, EDS compositional analysis and VSM to confirm superparamagnetic properties. TEM images revealed the nanostructure nature of composites with size ranging between 20 and 40 nm. A heterogeneous advanced oxidation process for degradation of some organic dyes as water pollution compounds using an aqueous solution of H2O2 were successfully exploited. Several key parameters including the metal center in the salophen complex, initial pH, catalyst dosage, H2O2 and dye concentration and temperature were investigated. A significant effect of the anchoring ligand on the degradation efficiency and catalyst stability was documented. The superior catalytic activity and particularly durability of the thiolate-based catalysts were demonstrated in comparison with their Py counterparts. Rate constants of 0.21, 0.17, 0.23 and 0.11 min-1 were obtained for degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO), and crystal violet (CV). Finally, a photoluminescence probing technology and radical scavenging measurements were carried out to elucidate the active species involved in the process.