Electro-oxidation of heavy metals contaminated water using banana waste-derived activated carbon and Fe3O4 nanocomposites.

The main objective of this study was to banana waste-derived activated carbon (BWAC) make a high pore surface area was prepared and composited with Fe3O4 via a facile hydrothermal method. Various physiochemical characteristics of the prepared samples were evaluated using XRD, FTIR, FESEM, Raman Spectroscopy and XPS analysis. In addition, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analyses were performed to determine the electrochemical properties of the prepared samples. The Fe3O4/BWAC sample showed a higher capacitance (285 F g-1) than BWAC at the same scan rate of 10 mV s-1. The capacitive deionization (CDI) cell configuration was varied, and its electro-sorption and defluoridization efficiencies were analyzed during the lead (Pb2+) removal 90%. An asymmetric combination of electrodes in the CDI cell exhibited better heavy metal removal performance, possibly due to the synergistic effect of the high surface area and the balance between the active adsorption site and the overlapping effect of the EDL. As a result, Fe3O4/BWAC could be a potential resource for supercapacitors and CDI electrodes, and the novel Fe3O4/BWAC nanocomposites outstanding performance suggests that they could be helpful for future energy storage and environmental applications.