An efficient polymer supported Fenton type catalyst for photodegradation of organic dyes

The catalytic potential of a novel polymer-supported iron complex (mPAN-Fe) prepared by immobilizing FeCl3 on hydrazine modified polyacrylonitrile (mPAN) is evaluated for the degradation of organic dyes. The prepared complex was characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM, ICP-MS and DRS/UV analyses. It was found that this complex can acts as an effective heterogeneous catalyst for the photodegradation of methylene blue, methyl orange, and Rhodamine-6G in presence of hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant. The effects of reaction parameters such as concentration of the catalyst, concentration of oxidant, concentration of the dye and pH of the medium on the photodegradation of methylene blue were also studied. The photodegradation of methylene blue was found to be 99 % within 70 min. Moreover, this catalyst exhibited excellent reusability up to 6 cycles for photocatalytic degradation under optimised conditions without significantly losing its activity. The catalyst was also found to be effective for the photodegrdation of methyl orange and Rhodamine-6G. A possible mechanism of photocatalysis under the reaction conditions has been proposed. This is the first study involving a hydrazine-modified PAN supported iron catalyst towards greener and efficient photocatalysis.