Enhancement of Catalytic Activities of a Biomimetic Catalyst FePz(dtnCl2)4 for the Wet Oxidation of Brilliant Red X3B through the Synergetic Effect of Heat and Light Irradiation

In this study, catalytic wet oxidation of Reactive Brilliant Red X3B (abbreviated as X3B) was studied using hydrogen peroxide as oxidant in the presence of a biomimic catalyst, iron(II) tetra(5,6-dichloro-1,4-dithiin)porphyrazine [abbreviated as FePz(dtnCl2)4]. Important factors including the solution pH, H2O2 concentration, and reaction temperature were investigated in detail to optimize the catalytic activity for the removal of X3B. Under the optimal conditions, X3B was degraded by 97.0% at pH = 2 for 240 min. Activation energy and rate constants at different reaction temperatures were calculated for the degradation of X3B in both the dark reaction and photoreaction. These results demonstrated that the catalytic activities of FePz(dtnCl2)4 for the wet oxidation of X3B could be efficiently enhanced through the synergetic effect of heat and light irradiation. Through fluorescence technology, hydroxyl radical (HO•) was detected as the main reactive oxidative species for the oxidative degradation of X3B.