The practical utility of the synthesis FeNi@SiO@TiO magnetic nanoparticles as an efficient photocatalyst for the humic acid degradation.

Humic acid (HA) compounds in drinking water and wastewater disinfection processes are viewed as precursors of highly toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic disinfection by-product chemicals. In recent times, these compounds have gained considerable attention of scientists for their successful removal from aqueous solutions to permissible limits. To achieve this aim, the present study investigated, for the first time, the photocatalytical performance of the synthesis FeNi@SiO@TiO nanoparticles for the HA degradation under different environmental conditions. The photocatalytic reactions were performed using ultraviolet (UV) radiation, whose intensity was fixed at 2500 μW/cm throughout the experimental study. The characterization study performed, using specific diagnostic techniques, revealed the presence of several good morphological, magnetic, and catalytic specifications of the synthesized nanoparticles. The use of the simplified form of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood equation sufficiently describes the experimental data of the HA kinetic degradation, as it shows a high coefficient of regression values. Furthermore, the complete HA degradation was reached under conditions of pH = 3; initial HA concentration = 10 mg/L; FeNi@SiO@TiO nanoparticles dosage = 0.01 g/L; and reaction time >30 min. Thus, the results obtained from this research suggested that the catalyst of FeNi@SiO@TiO nanoparticles was an attractive, novel, and effective agent, which could be used for the degradation of HA in the photocatalytic processes.