Enhanced remediation of actual dye wastewater by hydrogenated bimetallic MOF derivative with active peracetic acid

Abstract

This study introduces a hydrogenated FeCo-MOF derivative catalyst (HC-FeCo@C₃₅₀) to activate peracetic acid (PAA) for efficient degradation dye wastewater. Rhodamine B (RhB) as a model pollutant, the HC-FeCo@C₃₅₀/PAA achieved a 99.33% removal efficiency within 20 min, with a rate constant 18 times higher than the non-hydrogenated system. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and the toxicity evaluation software (T.E.S.T.) confirmed reduced intermediate toxicity. Quenching experiments, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) tests, and density functional theory (DFT) calculation show that HC-FeCo@C₃₅₀ can effectively activate PAA to produce ¹O₂, CH₃C(O)O•, and CH₃C(O)OO•. The magnetically recoverable catalyst maintained over 80% efficiency after 4 cycles. In actual dye wastewater treatment, the RE of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) could reach approximately 53.57%, 53.23%, 29.25%, 19.2%, respectively, with reduced toxicity validated by mungbean germination experiment. This technology offers a promising approach for refractory dye wastewater treatment and reuse.