Degradation of aqueous organic dye pollutants by heterogeneous photo-assisted Fenton-like process using natural mineral activator: Parameter optimization and degradation kinetics

Abstract

Degradation of organic pollutants by heterogeneous Fenton-based advanced oxidation processes has been proved to be an efficient method. The use of naturally occurring catalysts as H2O2 activators is of particular interest in environmental remediation. This work applied a low-cost and eco-friendly natural mineral under UV-light irradiation to degrade organic dye in water. To study the performance of the natural mineral in photo-Fenton oxidation, methylene blue (MB) was employed as a model dye pollutant. The morphology and chemical composition of the natural mineral were characterized using various techniques. The effects of different experimental conditions such as the initial pH of the solution, the amount of catalyst, and initial dye concentrations on the degradation efficiency were investigated. The degradation of methylene blue reached 91.3% at optimum reaction conditions; 0.1g catalyst and 100 mg L‒1 H2O2 concentrations for 10 mg L‒1 initial dye concentration after 180 min of treatment. The pseudo-first-order kinetic model exhibited a better correlation coefficient (R2 > 0.98) in explaining the degradation kinetics of MB. The applied natural mineral showed good catalytic activity and will open a door towards large-scale wastewater purification from dyes. Furthermore, the plausible mechanism of the heterogeneous photo-Fenton oxidation is discussed.

Development and Characterization of Bioadsorbents Derived from Different Agricultural Wastes for Water Reclamation: A Review

“…Aryee et al [82] studied a bioadsorbent based on peanut husk functionalized with zirconium, iminodiacetic acid, and Fe 3 O 4 that was able to remove up to 88.5% of phosphates in six hours at a temperature of 30 • C and pH 3. The addition of zirconium was crucial due to its interaction with hydroxyl, amines, and carboxyl groups; this enhanced PO 4 3− sequestration at the maximum sorption capacity of 13.2 mg/g. Rubber pod husk is another byproduct without commercial value that can serve as an adsorbent to remove phosphates dissolved in water (0.1-0.5 g/L), showing favorable results (q m = 39.9 mg/g) after six hours (contact time) at pH 7 and 29 • C [50].…”

“…Both types of pollutants are considered important hazards for human and environmental health even at trace levels. These non-biodegradable pollutants are found in surface and ground water sources and accumulated in aquatic organisms, primarily because conventional wastewater treatments cannot completely remove them from the effluent [1][2][3][4][5]. There are other water contaminants, such as organic matter, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, fertilizers, chemicals from personal care products, and many micro-organic pollutants; these are known as emerging contaminants.…”

Industrial molasses waste in the performant synthesis of few-layer graphene and its Au/Ag nanoparticles nanocomposites. Photocatalytic and supercapacitance applications

“…The Au/FLG and Ag/FLG nanocomposites are evaluated as photocatalyst in oxidative degradation of bisphenol A (BisA) using an activator, and as supercapacitor electrodes. Herein approach fits in a waste to resource strategy for organic contaminants degradation in water, which recently covered several interesting catalysts and advanced processes such as the zing slag (Zn-S) in ozonation of Direct Back 22 or photoassisted Fenton-like process in the presence of mineral activator [14,15].…”

Degradation of Rhodamine B in Wastewater by Iron-Loaded Attapulgite Particle Heterogeneous Fenton Catalyst

“…Among the many industrial water pollution environments, the pollution of printing and dyeing and textile wastewater to the environment is more serious. Wastewater contains many toxic and harmful pollutants that are difficult to be biodegraded [4][5][6]. Especially the dye wastewater has a great impact on human health and the natural environment.…”