A novel sugarcane residue-derived bimetallic Fe/Mn-biochar composite for activation of peroxymonosulfate in advanced oxidation process removal of azo dye: Degradation behavior and mechanism

Metal-biochar composites with varying Fe/Mn ratios were synthesized for activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) oxidative degradation of azo dye Orange G (OG) were investigated. The 1Fe2Mn-BC composite based on 1:2 molar ratio impregnation of Fe/Mn salt concentrations of efficient sugarcane harvest residue showed the best catalytic performance under aqueous pH 3–10 and had the least impacts from coexistence of inorganic anions and humic acids. The OG degradation by 1Fe2Mn-BC/PMS system optimized at catalyst:oxidant:pollutant ratio of 1:1.25:0.5 on g/L basis was found to follow pseudo-first-order kinetic and achieved 100 % degradation efficiency within 30 min. Apparent activation energy for OG degradation by 1Fe2Mn-BC/PMS was 16.91 kJ mol−1, and increasing reaction temperature from 293 to 313 K enhanced degradation rate constant by 49 %. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and radical quenching experiments revealed dominant non-radical 1O2 and radical O2− pathways in the OG oxidation removal by the 1Fe2Mn-BC/PMS system, although SO4− and OH radicals also participated. XPS spectra of 1Fe2Mn-BC before and after OG degradation indicated dominant surface composition of Fe(III) and Mn(II) valence states over other FeMn-biochar composites. The novel optimized one-step pyrolysis Fe/Mn bimetal biochar composite provides an efficient PMS activation for advanced oxidation process (AOP) treating of azo dyes in wastewater decontamination.