Stable and recyclable Fe₃C@CN catalyst supported on carbon felt for efficient activation of peroxymonosulfate

Stable and recyclable catalysts are crucial to the peroxymonosulfate (PMS) based advanced oxidation process (AOPs) for wastewater treatment. Herein, nitrogen-rich carbon wrapped Fe₃C (Fe₃C@CN) on carbon felt (CF) substrate was synthesized by using Prussian blue (PB) loaded CF as the precursors. The obtained Fe₃C@CN/CF catalyst was applied for degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) via the heterogeneous catalytic activation of PMS. Results showed that ~91.7%, 95.2%, 98.1% and 99.1% of BPA (20 mg/L) were eliminated in the Fe₃C@CN/CF + PMS system within 4, 10, 20 and 30 min, respectively. The fast degradation kinetics is attributed to the production of abundant reactive species (OH, SO₄^- and ¹O₂) in the Fe₃C@CN/CF + PMS system, as demonstrated by the electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and quench experiments. The Fe₃C@CN/CF catalyst was stable and can be easily recycled by using an external magnet. The results indicated that the nanoconfined Fe₃C endowed Fe₃C@CN/CF with high stability and magnetic property and enabled the efficient electron transfer for PMS activation. This study provides a cost-effective approach for the fabrication of stable and recyclable Fe₃C@CN/CF catalyst, and shed a new light on the rational design of multifunctional catalyst for advanced water remediation.