Co3O4@Fe3O4/cellulose blend membranes for efficient degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid in the visible light-driven photo-Fenton system

Co 3 O 4 @Fe 3 O 4 /cellulose membrane was synthesized by coating rod-like MOF-derived Fe 3 O 4 with Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles and blending with cellulose solution, further applied in the visible light-driven photo-Fenton system for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) degradation. In the H 2 O 2 /membrane/visible light system, the Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis and scavenger experiment results suggested that PFOA degradation was a co-dependent mechanism via photogenerated electrons, photogenerated holes ( h + ) and various radical species, rather than a single active constituent. Co 3 O 4 @Fe 3 O 4 /cellulose membrane showed outstanding degradation performance, stability and recyclability under optimal conditions. Compared with pure Fe 3 O 4 or Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles , the Co 3 O 4 @Fe 3 O 4 /cellulose membrane can degrade around 94.5% PFOA within 180 min in reaction system, and the leached Fe and Co was only 0.05 and 0.49 ppm, respectively. Moreover, Co 3 O 4 @Fe 3 O 4 /cellulose was reused by rinsing with ultra-pure water and the degradation capacity was still 80.4% after five cycles. The degradation pathway of PFOA also was proposed based on UHPLC-MS analysis.