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Efficient nitrate reduction over Fe-Cu bimetals under UV irradiation: Performance and mechanisms
Chengwan Wang1, Junchen He1, Aoyu Shen1
1Key Laboratory of Pollution Control Chemistry and Environmental Functional Materials for Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, School of Chemistry and Environment, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, 610041, PR China.
None:
Nitrate (NO3-), a prevalent pollutant in aquatic ecosystems, poses significant ecological and human health risks due to its excessive accumulation, which accelerates eutrophication. In this study, a novel bimetallic material (B-Fe/Cu) was synthesized via high-energy ball milling using micron-sized zero-valent iron (ZVI) and copper salts. When integrated with ultraviolet (UV) light, the UV/B-Fe/Cu system achieved complete conversion (100%) of 10 ppm NO3--N within 120 min. Intriguingly, abundant Cu species were found to mediate the efficient redox cycling between Fe3+ and Fe2+, and superoxide radicals (O2·-) facilitated the redox cycling between Fe3+/Fe2+ and Cu2+/Cu+, while the localized micro-acidic microenvironment of B-Fe/Cu enabled the dynamic pH regulation during nitrate reduction. These triple functionalities ensured the full nitrate conversion in UV/B-Fe/Cu system without toxic NO2- byproduct formation across a wide pH range of 3.0-11.0. Furthermore, the UV/B-Fe/Cu system demonstrated exceptional operational stability and environmental robustness, retaining >90% reduction efficiency after four consecutive reuse cycles. These insights advance the rational design of iron-based materials for scalable and sustainable water purification technologies.
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