Enhanced electro-Fenton activity with Fe/Sm2O3 monoliths as novel and efficient heterojunction for glyphosate degradation

Excessive utilization of herbicide has posed irreversible effect on aquatic organisms and human being. FexSmy@PCMs have been synthesized as efficient heterogeneous electro-Fenton catalysts for herbicide degradation, in which H2O2 is in situ generated by the porous carbon monolith (PCM) ground and then H2O2 is activated into & BULL;OH by the anchored Fe/Sm2O3. Fe nanocrystals are intimately embedded into the Sm2O3 nanoblocks in Fe0.3Sm0.7@PCM, which can promote the electron transfer and induce synergistic redox cycle. Fe0.3Sm0.7@PCM achieves over 95% glyphosate (GLP) degradation within one hour in neutral condition, which is 30% better than Fe@PCM. Thanks to high efficiency and exceptional stability, Fe0.3Sm0.7@PCM maintains over 94% GLP removal after six consecutive batches.