Sodium salt promoted the generation of nano zero valent iron by carbothermal reduction: For activating peroxydisulfate to degrade antibiotic.

Carbothermal reduction is a promising method for the industrial preparation of nano-zero-valent iron. Preparing it also involves very high pyrolysis temperatures, which leads to a significant amount of energy consumption. The temperature required for the preparation of nano-zero-valent iron by carbothermal reduction was reduced by 200 °C by the addition of sodium salt. Carbon-loaded nano zero-valent iron (Fe0 /CB-Na) was prepared by carbothermal reduction through the addition of sodium salt. The results showed that Fe0 /CB-Na@700 had the same activation performance as Fe0 /CB@900 and the newly prepared nano-zero-valent iron. The addition of sodium salt promoted the transfer of oxygen from the iron oxide to the carbon structure during the roasting process so that the iron oxide was reduced to as much Fe0 as possible. Thus, sodium salts were optimized for the preparation of nano-zero-valent iron by carbothermal reduction through interfacial amorphization and oxygen transfer, thus reducing the preparation cost.