Nitrobenzene oxidation by persulfate with magnetite nanoparticle

Abstract

Persulfate oxidation has been known for the technique that is relatively stable and suitable for the wide ranges of pH conditions and is generally activated under the conditions of heat, photo, and metal-catalysts. During the activation of persulfate anion (S2O82-), various types of radicals (i.e., mainly sulfate radical (SO4?-) including hydroxyl radical (?OH)) are generated. In this research, synthesized magnetite nanoparticle (MNP) was carefully analyzed, and the effect of MNP expecting to enhance the reactivity of persulfate was evaluated for nitrobenzene oxidation. The preliminary results showed that MNP could accelerate the degradation of nitrobenzene in persulfate system compared to the system with only persulfate. In addition, MNP could activate persulfate as much as ferrous ion to degrade nitrobenzene. This indicated that persulfate could be activated either on the surface of MNP or in aqueous solution.