Synthesis and characterization of FeNi3 nanoparticles and their application as catalysts for penicillin G degradation in a Fenton-like reaction

In the present study, FeNi3 magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized using a co-precipitation method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). Further, the synthesized nanoparticles were applied to penicillin G (PG) degradation in a Fenton-like reaction. The effect of different parameters such as pH (3-11), nanoparticle dose (0.1-1 g/L), PG concentration (10-100 mg/L), reaction time (5-180 min) and the concentration of peroxide hydrogen (50-200 mg/L) were investigated on PG degradation by the synthesized nanoparticles. According to the results obtained by the XRD spectra and the Scherrer equation the average size of the synthesized nanoparticles was 41 nm. The FESEM image revealed that the synthesized nanoparticles had a high density due to their magnetic nature and the VSM analysis showed that the nanoparticles had a magnetic saturation of about 68.52 emu/g, indicating they were a super-paramagnetic material. As for the PG degradation, the removal rate of PG in 180 min for initial PG concentrations of 10, 20, 30, 50, 70, and 100 mg/L were 100%, 93.3%, 86.9%, 74.34%, and 58.85%, respectively, operating under optimum conditions (i.e. pH = 5, nanoparticle dose 1 g/L and H2O2 concentration 150 mg/L). Also, it was found that PG degradation fitted the pseudo-first-order kinetics equation (R-2 > 0.9). In addition, re-usability tests showed that after 4 cycles, only 6% of the nanoparticles were lost during the Fenton-like process. Finally, according to the results, it can be concluded that FeNi3 magnetic nanoparticles in the Fenton-like process have a good effect on the removal of penicillin G.