Decolorization of textile dye Rifafix Red 3BN by natural hematite and a comparative study on different types of Fenton process

Abstract

This work shows the decolorization of mono-azo dye Rifafix Red 3BN by environmentally friendly advanced oxidation processes using natural hematite. Our main focus is on the utilization of naturally occurring hematite for the treatment of wastewater. The experimental variables were initial concentration of dye, catalyst concentration, oxidant concentration, and reaction temperature. The optimum conditions were obtained as follows: catalyst dose 2 g/L, H₂O₂ concentration 20 mM, pH 3 and temperature 25 °C at a reaction time of 60 min. The % decolorization was increased from 55.91% to 93.89% using optimum conditions with initial 100 ppm dye. To assess the competence of different types of AOPs, the organic mono-azo dye was subjected to oxidize using various photochemical processes.

Keywords:

• Dye decolorization
• Fenton-like process
• Natural hematite
• Photochemical advanced oxidation processes
• Rifafix Red 3BN dye

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Department of Science & Technology, Science and Engineering Research Board, India [grant number YSS/2014/000996].