pH-resilient Cu/Si₃N₄ catalyst for efficient heterogeneous Fenton mineralization of methylene blue.
4 affiliations
- 1Dipartimento Politecnico di Ingegneria e Architettura, Università di Udine, INSTM Udine Via del Cotonificio 108 33100 Udine Italy.
- 2Dipartimento di Scienze AgroAlimentari, Ambientali e Animali, Sezione di Chimica, Università di Udine, INSTM Udine Via del Cotonificio 108 33100 Udine Italy [email protected].
- 3Department of Chemical Engineering, Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, EEBE Eduard Maristany 10-14 08019 Barcelona Spain.
- 4Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Università di Padova Via Gradenigo, 6/a 35131 Padova Italy.
Abstract
Heterogeneous Fenton oxidation is an effective strategy for the removal of organic contaminants from water; however, its practical application is often hindered by narrow pH operating windows and catalyst instability. In this work, metal-supported silicon nitride catalysts (M/Si₃N₄, M = Cu, Fe, Co, Zn) were investigated for the mineralization of Methylene Blue (MB) over a wide pH range (3-8). A novel descriptor, the Heterogeneous Fenton Potential (HFP), is proposed as a simple tool for the preliminary screening of catalytic systems, enabling a qualitative evaluation of their ability to generate reactive oxidizing species from H₂O₂. Among the investigated catalysts, Cu/Si₃N₄ showed superior and pH-resilient performance, achieving nearly complete MB degradation within 5 min and up to 75% Total Organic Carbon (TOC) removal at near-neutral pH (5-6). In contrast, Fe-, Co-, and Zn-based systems exhibited a significant decrease in activity at pH ≥ 6. The enhanced performance of Cu/Si₃N₄ is attributed to the high dispersion of Cu species on the Si₃N₄ support, which facilitates efficient H₂O₂ activation and rapid generation of reactive radicals. These results highlight Cu/Si₃N₄ as a promising catalyst for water treatment applications, combining wide pH operability, high mineralization efficiency, and potential reusability. The proposed approach provides a promising pathway to mitigate the intrinsic pH limitations of conventional Fenton processes, supporting their further development for wastewater treatment.
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BibTeX
@article{hussain2026phresilient,
title = {{pH-resilient Cu/Si₃N₄ catalyst for efficient heterogeneous Fenton mineralization of methylene blue.}},
author = {Sajid Hussain and Eleonora Aneggi and Walter Baratta and Daniele Zuccaccia and Jordi Llorca and Alessandro Trovarelli and Michele Modesti and Daniele Goi},
journal = {RSC advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra06509k},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921333},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - pH-resilient Cu/Si₃N₄ catalyst for efficient heterogeneous Fenton mineralization of methylene blue.
AU - Sajid Hussain
AU - Eleonora Aneggi
AU - Walter Baratta
AU - Daniele Zuccaccia
AU - Jordi Llorca
AU - Alessandro Trovarelli
AU - Michele Modesti
AU - Daniele Goi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - RSC advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra06509k
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921333
AB - Heterogeneous Fenton oxidation is an effective strategy for the removal of organic contaminants from water; however, its practical application is often hindered by narrow pH operating windows and catalyst instability. In this work, metal-supported silicon nitride catalysts (M/Si₃N₄, M = Cu, Fe, Co, Zn) were investigated for the mineralization of Methylene Blue (MB) over a wide pH range (3-8). A novel descriptor, the Heterogeneous Fenton Potential (HFP), is proposed as a simple tool for the preliminary screening of catalytic systems, enabling a qualitative evaluation of their ability to generate reactive oxidizing species from H₂O₂. Among the investigated catalysts, Cu/Si₃N₄ showed superior and pH-resilient performance, achieving nearly complete MB degradation within 5 min and up to 75% Total Organic Carbon (TOC) removal at near-neutral pH (5-6). In contrast, Fe-, Co-, and Zn-based systems exhibited a significant decrease in activity at pH ≥ 6. The enhanced performance of Cu/Si₃N₄ is attributed to the high dispersion of Cu species on the Si₃N₄ support, which facilitates efficient H₂O₂ activation and rapid generation of reactive radicals. These results highlight Cu/Si₃N₄ as a promising catalyst for water treatment applications, combining wide pH operability, high mineralization efficiency, and potential reusability. The proposed approach provides a promising pathway to mitigate the intrinsic pH limitations of conventional Fenton processes, supporting their further development for wastewater treatment.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -