Controlled synthesis of CoFe@TiN composites and their rapid and efficient degradation of emerging organic pollutants: RhB as an example

Abstract

Fast removal of emerging organic pollutants (EOPs) is very important for the remediation of the water environment. Therefore, in this study, we used a simple grinding-calcined assembly method to prepare CoFe@TiN metallic composite, which possessed superb peroxy disulfate (PDS) activation ability with efficient pollutant degradation and excellent cyclic utilization. Rhodamine B, a highly representative and extensively used EOP, was adopted as a model pollutant, showing that it was completely degraded within only 9 min by the CoFe@TiN/PDS. During the degradation, superoxide radical (O₂^•−) were the main active oxygen species responsible for pollutant degradation. Further analysis showed that the synergistic effect of Fe(III)/Co(II) effectively activated the PDS to degrade the pollutant. In practical applications, the CoFe@TiN/PDS system can resist the influence of complex matrix in water and effectively remove EOPs in real water bodies. This study comprehensively evaluates the ability of the CoFe@TiN/PDS system to remove EOPs and thus provides a new scenario or pathway for the removal of EOPs in real contaminated water bodies.