Boosting the catalytic activity of natural magnetite for wet peroxide oxidation.

This work explores the modification of naturally occurring magnetite by controlled oxidation (200-400 °C, air atmosphere) and reduction (300-600 °C, H atmosphere) treatments with the aim of boosting its activity in CWPO. The resulting materials were fully characterized by XRD, XPS, TGA, TPR, SEM, and magnetization measurements, allowing to confirm the development of core-shell type structures. The magnetite core of the solid remained unchanged upon the treatment whereas the Fe(II)/Fe(III) ratio of the shell was modified (e.