Cu–Fe Incorporated Graphene-Oxide Nanocomposite as Highly Efficient Catalyst in the Degradation of Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) from Aqueous Solution

Abstract

Abstract Fe/graphene oxide and Cu–Fe/graphene oxide nanocomposite were synthesized by the atomic implantation method to study the photocatalytic degradation of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by the XRD, N 2 isotherms, SEM with EDX, TEM and XPS analysis. Characterization results have reported that oxides of Cu and Fe were uniformly distributed on graphene oxide and exited in the form of Cu + and Fe 2+ ions in Cu–Fe/graphene oxide nanocomposite. The high photocatalytic DDT removal efficiency 99.7% was obtained for Cu–Fe/graphene oxide under the optimal condition of 0.2 g/L catalyst, 15 mg/L H 2 O 2 and pH 5. It was attributed to the reduction of Fe 3+ to Fe 2+ by Cu + ions and –OH radicals formation. However, it was dropped to 90.4% in the recycling study by leaching of iron and without a change in phase structure and morphology. Graphic Abstract