Facile preparation of magnetic activated carbon from Peltophorum pterocarpum flowers for persulfate activation in methyl orange treatment

Herein, Peltophorum pterocarpum flowers (PPFs) were used to fabricate magnetic activated carbon (MAC) through one-pot pyrolysis with the addition of FeCl₃ and KOH. XRD results proved that zero-valent iron crytals were formed in activated carbon (AC) bases. With 16.0 wt% Fe, MAC possessed a specific saturation magnetization of 35.6 emu/g, indicating its sufficient strength for magnetic separation. Furthermore, MAC had hierarchical porosity, characterized by a specific surface area of 69 m²/g and a total pore volume of 0.104 cm³/g. Subsequently, MAC was explored for activating persulfate (PS) in methyl orange (MO) decolorization. At pH 3.0, 30 °C, 5.00 mM PS, and 1.00 g/L MAC, 93.3 % MO (0.100 mM) vanished after 120 min. In reuse experiments, only 10.6 % of iron was leached from the MAC activator, and MO removal still remained at 77.7 % after five cycles. In summary, PPF-derived MAC showed effective potential in activating PS for MO elimination.