Could microwave induced catalytic oxidation (MICO) process over CoFe2O4 effectively eliminate brilliant green in aqueous solution

Abstract In this study, we adopted the chemical co-precipitation (CP) method and sol–gel method followed by calcination at temperatures of 100–900 °C for 12 h to synthesize CoFe 2 O 4 materials, which were further characterized by TEM, XRD and XPS techniques. The properties of CoFe 2 O 4 materials were evaluated in a microwave (MW) induced catalytic oxidation (MICO) process for the elimination of brilliant green (BG). The results showed that: (1) the removal rates of BG gradually decreased over a series of CoFe 2 O 4 materials prepared by CP method and calcinated with 100–700 °C (except 900 °C) for 12 h within three reuse cycles; for comparison, no removal of BG was obtained over CoFe 2 O 4 synthesized by sol–gel method and CoFe 2 O 4 -900 (CP); (2) no hydroxyl radicals were captured with salicylic acid used as molecular probe in the MICO process; (3) MW irradiation enhanced the release of residual NaOH within the microstructure of CoFe 2 O 4 and further discolored BG, because BG is sensitive to pH; (4) granular activated carbon (GAC), an excellent MW-absorbing material possessing higher dielectric loss tangent compared to that of a series of CoFe 2 O 4 materials, could not remove BG in suspensions at a higher efficiency, even if the loading amount was 20 g L −1 . Accordingly, MICO process over CoFe 2 O 4 materials and GAC could not effectively eliminate BG in suspensions.