In situ anchor of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) onto the surface of natural maifanite was realized by chemical oxidation coprecipitation in hot alkaline solution. The Fe3O4/maifanite composites were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, and TEM. These results indicated that polycrystalline Fe3O4 NPs with inverse spinel structure were formed and tightly dispersed on maifanite surface. Based on the measurement of surface Zeta potential of maifanite at different medium pHs, the possible combination mechanism between natural maifanite and Fe3O4 NPs was proposed. Then, the as-obtained composites were developed as highly efficient heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst for the discoloration of an azo dye, Methyl Orange (MO). The comparative tests on MO discoloration in different systems revealed that Fe3O4/maifanite composite exhibited much higher Fenton-like catalytic activity than Fe3O4 NPs and the heterogeneous Fenton-like reaction governed the discoloration of MO. Kinetic results clearly showed that MO discoloration process followed the second-order kinetic model. Fe3O4/maifanite composites exhibited the typical ferromagnetic property detected by VSM and could be easily separated from solution by an external magnetic field.
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