Synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes-FePO_4 composite from phosphate residue and its application as effective Fenton-like catalyst for dye degradation

Phosphate residue is regarded as a hazardous waste, which could potentially create significant environmental and health problems if it is not properly treated and disposed of. In this study, nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes-FePO_4(NCNTs-FePO_4) composite was successfully synthesized from phosphate residue, and its application as an effective catalyst was explored. Firstly, an effective method was developed to recover FePO_4 from phosphate residue, achieving an impressive FePO_4 mass recovery rate of 98.14%. Then, the NCNTsFePO_4 catalyst was synthesized from the recovered FePO_4 by two main reactions, including surface modification and chemical vapor deposition. Finally, the synthesized NCNTs-FePO_4 was applied to photo-degrade 15 mg/L Rhodamine B(RhB) in a Fenton-like system. The results showed that 98.9% of RhB could be degraded in 60 min, closely following the pseudofirst-order kinetics model. It was found that even after six consecutive cycles, NCNTs-FePO_4 still retained a high catalytic capacity(>50%). Moreover, ·OH radicals participating in the RhB degradation process were evidenced using quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance analysis, and a rational mechanism was proposed. It was demonstrated that the materials synthesized from hazardous phosphate residue can be used as an effective catalyst for dye removal.