Cu and CoFe2O4 nanoparticles decorated hierarchical porous carbon: An excellent catalyst for reduction of nitroaromatics and microwave-assisted antibiotic degradation

Water pollution is a major global issue that is causing tremendous threats to human health as well as to aquatic lives. This is triggering the need to develop efficient catalysts which can not only eliminate various water pollutants, but also cost-effective to use in a large-scale application. In this scenario, the biomass-derived porous carbon-supported catalyst which can catalyze multiple reactions to remove water pollutants is very much pertinent. Herein, we have synthesized a catalyst in which Cu and CoFe2O4 nanoparticles (CF) are anchored on the hierarchical porous carbon (PC) derived from coconut fibers. The catalytic efficiency of this catalyst (Cu-CF-PC) was tested for the removal of two major water pollutants, i.e. nitroaromatic compounds and antibiotics. Cu-CF-PC reduced various aromatic nitro compounds in presence of NaBH4 within 0.5–3 min via a six electron transfer route. Furthermore, Cu-CF-PC also successfully degraded four commonly used antibiotics (Amoxicillin, Ciprofloxacin, Tetracycline hydrochloride, and Sulfamethoxazole) within 1 min. Degradation of antibiotics proceeds via a Z-scheme heterojunction formation in the catalyst under microwave irradiation which leads to the generation of •OH radicals that degrades the antibiotic molecules. Moreover, the catalyst can be easily recovered from the reaction mixture by using an external magnet and reused. The catalyst was structurally and morphologically stable and showed ~92% catalytic efficiency even after five cycles. Hence, this work puts forward a reusable, cost-effective, environment-friendly, and highly efficient catalyst (Cu-CF-PC) that can be used in the practical approach to remediate environmental pollution.