Enhanced photo-Fenton degradation of rhodamine B using graphene oxide-amorphous FePO₄ as effective and stable heterogeneous catalyst.

A series of graphene oxide (GO)-FePO4 composites with different GO weight ratios (2.5%, 5%, 10%, w/w) were prepared using a simple precipitation process and were firstly used as heterogeneous photo-Fenton catalysts. FESEM images prove the loose structure of the 5GO-FePO4 composite. UV-vis analysis demonstrates that the introduction of GO could enhance solar energy utilization of the composites. Under visible light irradiation, the degradation rate of rhodamine B (RhB) by the 5GO-FePO4 composite was 2.87 times more than that by the pure FePO4 in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The composite was highly effective for the degradation of RhB in a wide pH range of 2.18-10.40 with negligible iron leaching. Moreover, the composite still showed high catalytic activity after six cycles, which makes it a promising heterogeneous catalyst for wastewater treatment. The introduction of GO promotes the photo-Fenton reaction of GO-FePO4 via three roles: offering more active sites, increasing adsorption capacity and accelerating the Fe(3+)/Fe(2+) cycle by improving the utilization of solar energy. Our work may provide new insights for the development of new effective heterogeneous photo-Fenton catalyst.