Prussian blue modified CeO2 as a heterogeneous photo-Fenton-like catalyst for degradation of norfloxacin in water

The heterogeneous photo-Fenton-like process is emerging as a promising treatment of antibiotics-containing wastewater. The preparation of new efficient and stable catalysts is one of the research fields. A composite catalyst, prussian blue (PB) modified CeO2 was prepared, characterized, and applied for photo-Fenton oxidation of norfloxacin (NOR) in this study. It was found that chemical doping of PB leaded to more oxygen vacancies and increased the surface area of CeO2 obviously. PB/CeO2 with more Ce3+ facilitated electron transfer between Fe3+/Fe2+ with Ce3+/Ce4+. PB could also improve the separation rate of photoexcited electron-hole pairs in CeO2 nanostructures. When the doping ratio of PB and CeO2 was 10%, PB/CeO2 show the highest catalytic degradation ability and 88.93% of NOR could be degraded within 30 min. PB/CeO2 composite showed well reactivity at the wide pH value range of 3–8. The reusable experiments and low iron dissolution with less than 1 mg/L indicated that PB/CeO2 could be employed as an efficient heterogeneous photo-Fenton-like catalyst in organic contaminants degradation.