Preparation of Fe3O4/C Composite Material from Red Mud for the Degradation of Acid Orange 7

Jiaxing Cai; Yunye Cao; Bingfei Yang; Jiajie Li; Michael Hitch

doi:10.3390/ma18010151

Preparation of Fe₃O₄/C Composite Material from Red Mud for the Degradation of Acid Orange 7

Materials (Basel). 2025 Jan 2;18(1):151. doi: 10.3390/ma18010151.

Authors

Jiaxing Cai¹, Yunye Cao^{1

2}, Bingfei Yang², Jiajie Li³, Michael Hitch⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China.
² Engineering Research Center for Silicate Solid Waste Resource Utilization of Hebei Province, Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang 050031, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Efficient Mining and Safety of Metal Mines, School of Resource and Safety Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
⁴ Faculty of Science, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8, Canada.

PMID: 39795795
DOI: 10.3390/ma18010151

Abstract

This study presents a novel Fe₃O₄/C composite material synthesized from red mud through a process of magnetic roasting and separation. The research explores the impact of Fe₃O₄/C dosages, sodium persulfate (PS) concentrations, and initial solution pH on the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency using Acid Orange 7 as a model pollutant. Optimal conditions were identified as 3 g/L Fe₃O₄/C, 20 mM PS, and an initial pH of 2, achieving a 94.11% COD removal efficiency within 30 min. X-ray diffraction and photoelectron spectroscopy analyses confirmed that the magnetization roasting process effectively transformed red mud's ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃) into magnetite (Fe₃O₄). Concurrently, Fe₃O₄ interacted with residual carbon to form the Fe₃O₄/C composite. This composite demonstrated superior catalytic performance, along with excellent recyclability and reusability.

Keywords: COD; Fe3O4/C composite material; Magnetization roasting; Red mud.

Abstract

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