Facile synthesis of CoFe2O4 magnetic nanomaterial by natural cellulose template and catalytic performance in heterogeneous activation of peroxymonosulfate

Fibrous cobalt ferrite catalyst was synthesized using the sol–gel method combined with celloulose template. This technology can exactly reproduce the microstructure of cellulose template on nanometer level. The obtained cobalt ferrite was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), x-ray diffractometry (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and vibrating sample magnetometer. Cobalt ferrite exhibited high efficiency to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for the degradation of Acid Orange 7. The effects of experimental parameters including initial pH values of dye solution, effect of concentrations of PMS and CoFe 2 O 4 on Acid Orange 7 degradation were studied. Furthermore, CoFe 2 O 4 also displayed an extremely high catalytic performance in the degradation of Methyl Orange, Reactive Brilliant Red X-3B, Methylene Blue and Rhodamine B. CoFe 2 O 4 retained high degradation efficiency and high stability even after being reused for five runs. The inherent magnetism of ferrite leads to easy separation of catalyst from the reaction mixtures. Consequently, the catalyst durability is improved remarkably. CoFe 2 O 4 magnetic fiber nanomaterial was synthesized using the sol–gel method combined with celloulose template and exhibited high catalytic activity for AO7 degradation in presence of peroxymonosulfate.