Sol–gel synthesis and characterization of heterogeneous Fenton catalysts for enhanced carbamazepine degradation

A novel nanostructured Fenton-like catalyst based on La-doped MgFe2O4 for enhanced carbamazepine degradation was prepared by facile sol-gel synthesis. The physicochemical properties of the obtained catalyst were studied by DTA-TG, XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDX, TEM, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption methods. The effect of calcination temperature on the structure and phase composition of the catalyst was assessed. The influence of the conditions of the catalytic process (dose of catalyst, H2O2 concentration, and pH of model solution) on the efficiency of degradation of an antiepileptic drug, carbamazepine, was scrutinized. The performed studies provided a non-toxic and chemically stable Fenton-like catalyst which demonstrated enhanced efficiency in carbamazepine degradation. The optimal conditions were found as catalyst dose of 0.5 g L−1, H2O2 concentration of 20.0 mmol L−1 and pH of 6.0. The apparent pseudo-first-order rate constant reached up to 0.086 min−1 for MgLa0.1Fe1.9O4 catalyst. Due to its high specific area and enhanced catalytic efficiency, the developed Fenton-like heterogeneous catalyst based on La-doped magnesium ferrite can be used for treating wastewaters polluted with pharmaceutically active compounds.