LAUSR

Rice husk was utilized as a silica source for the synthesis of mesoporous silica (MS), which was further used for the surface modification of iron oxide nanoparticles (IO-NPs) to form mesoporous silica-modified iron oxide nanoparticles (MSIO-NPs). IO-NPs and MSIO-NPs were characterized using FT-IR, XRD, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, nitrogen adsorption–desorption, TEM and dynamic light scattering analysis. The catalytic activity of MSIO-NPs was tested for degradation and mineralization of Nile blue sulphate dye (NBS) in Fenton-like oxidation process. The degradation efficiency and total organic carbon (TOC) removal of NBS dye onto MSIO-NPs was found to be 92.46 and 66.58%, respectively, after 20 min of reaction time using 5 mM of H2O2 concentration. Modified generalized kinetic model was developed for TOC removal of dye degradation onto MSIO-NPs, to account for oxidizable compounds, non-oxidizable compounds, and intermediate organic compounds. The intermediate products formed during degradation of NBS dye were detected by LC–MS experiment and ten fragments were identified based on mass to charge ratio (m/z). The mechanistic pathway for degradation of NBS dye onto MSIO-NPs has been proposed.