CuCoFe2O4@AC magnetic nanocomposite as a novel heterogeneous Fenton-like nanocatalyst for Ciprofloxacin degradation from aqueous solutions

CuCoFe2O4@Activated Carbon (AC) was synthesized by a fast, simple, and green microwave-assisted coprecipitation method, and then used as a new heterogeneous magnetic nanocatalyst in Fenton-like reaction for ciprofloxacin (CIP) degradation from aqueous media. CuCoFe2O4@AC was characterized by Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy-Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Mapping, Line scan, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD), vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) techniques. The characterization results showed that the CuCoFe2O4@AC nanocomposite was in the ferrite phase with a mesoporous, uniform, quasi-spherical surface and a particle size of about 25 nm. The total volume of single-point adsorption pores was equal to 0.22 cm3 g−1 and the specific surface area was determined to be 199.54 m2 g−1. This nanocomposite had good thermal stability with high magnetic strength. In the presence of H2O2, the synthesized nanocomposite provided a Fenton-like reaction for CIP removal from aqueous solutions. The investigation of this process showed that neutral pH, 1 g L−1 of the nanocomposite, and 73.5 mM of H2O2 were the optimal conditions for CIP removal with an initial CIP concentration of 20 mg L−1. The maximum removal efficiency of 95.77% was attained after 120 min of contact time under the optimum conditions. The CIP degradation during this Fenton-like process followed a pseudo-first-order kinetic model with rate constants (Kapp) of 0.01 min−1. Finally, the CIP removal efficiency after 5 cycles of recovery and regeneration of CuFe2O4@AC was 87.65%. The excellent performance and high catalytic activity of CuCoFe2O4@AC in Fenton-like reaction for CIP removal make it have potential application foreground in the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater.