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Phenol and its derivatives are the major environmental pollutants discharged from paper and pulp industries into water bodies. All these compounds and chlorinated phenolic compounds in particular are very toxic to fauna and flora, even at relatively low concentration. This study aimed to investigate the removal rate of phenolic compounds from the effluent of pulp and paper industries using a combination of ozonation and photocatalytic processes. Firstly, a certain volume from the effluent of paper and pulp industries containing certain phenol concentrations was obtained and fed into a prefabricated reactor at laboratory scale. Then, the combined and separate effects of zinc oxide dosage (ZnO), ozone flow rate (O), and pH under ultra violet radiation for 30 min were evaluated. The concentration of phenolic compounds and the produced ozone gas flow rate were measured by a spectrophotometry and iodometric method, respectively. The results showed that the phenolic removal rate increased at acidic PHs compared with alkaline PHs; it was also decreased with the increase in ZnO dosages. Furthermore, the highest phenolic compound's removal rate was 99% at the optimal condition (pH 5, ZnO dosage of 0.1 g L at the 30 min with UV-C illumination of 125 W). Finally, Daphnia toxicity test showed that treated effluent was safe and met the standards to the extent that it can be discharged into the receiving waters. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

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a b s t r a c tChromium, as a serious environmental contaminant, is frequently encountered in different industrial effluents. In the present study, we focused on the combined application of a surfactant-modified bentonite and chitosan for the removal of Cr(VI). In addition, the effects of several important parameters such as pH (2-8), adsorbent dosage (0.1-1.5 g/L), Cr(VI) concentration (20-200 mg/L) and contact time (60-240 min) were also investigated and the process was optimized by means of response surface methodology. The analysis of variance of the quadratic model demonstrates that the model was highly significant. Optimized values of pH, adsorbent dosage, initial Cr(VI) concentration and contact time were found to be 3.7, 1.40 g/L, 77 mg/L and 180 min, respectively. The results revealed that the prepared adsorbent had significant adsorption capacity (124.1 mg/g) for Cr(VI). All results showed that thermally sodium organo-bentonite biopolymer composite (TSOBC) had a good affinity toward Cr(VI). Among the isotherm models tested, Langmuir isotherm model was found to be the best fit for the obtained data. The adsorption kinetics indicated that Cr(VI) adsorption on TSOBC followed pseudo-second-order better than pseudo-first-order model. Moreover, thermodynamic studies showed that adsorption of Cr(VI) on TSOBC was spontaneous and endothermic in nature. The applied adsorbent was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic techniques.

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