Preparation of FeOOH/Cu with High Catalytic Activity for Degradation of Organic Dyes

In this study, high-frequency electromagnetic-assisted ball-milling was used to prepare FeOOH/Cu catalyst. The combined effect of the high-frequency electromagnetic field and ball-milling resulted in the complete conversion of raw materials into FeOOH/Cu nanomagnetic hybrid at ~40 °C in only 30 h. Experiments showed that Rhodamine B was completely degraded within only 3 min, which was much faster than with previously reported catalysts. The combination effect of ball milling and microwave afforded excellent catalytic activity. Furthermore, the produced catalyst could be recovered easily using an external magnetic field for reuse. The influence of pH on the catalytic activity for degrading Rhodamine B, Phenol Red, Methyl Orange, and Methylene Blue were also investigated; Rhodamine B was completely degraded at pH 9 within only 2 min.