Degradation of an Anthraquinone Dye by Ozone/Fenton: Response Surface Approach and Degradation Pathway

ABSTRACT

A coupled O₃/Fenton process is applied to study the degradation efficiency of organic pollutants. The C.I. Acid Blue 80 (AB80), a kind of anthraquinone dye, is used as target contaminant. The results show that the combination of ozonation and Fenton process is a highly effective way of removing color from wastewater. Response surface methodology is applied to optimize the working conditions and the effects and interactions among initial pH (X₁), mole ratio of H₂O₂/Fe²⁺ (X₂) and ozone flux (X₃) are investigated. Regression equations determines that the best condition is that initial pH = 2.85, [H₂O₂]/[Fe²⁺] = 18.10 and ozone flux = 55.70 L.h⁻¹. It turns out the relative error of 1.32% with the predicted model when the actual value which is 88.76% in the best condition, compared to the predictive value of 88.95% under same condition. UV-Vis and FT-IR analysis are used as an assisted technique to study degradation mechanism during the oxidation process. The intermediate products are determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis and the plausible degradation pathway is proposed.

KEYWORDS:

• C.I. Acid Blue 80
• Degradation Pathway
• Mechanism
• Optimization
• Response Surface Methodology

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21246010) and Jiangsu Eastern Coast and Yangtse River Area Development Institute (Z201402).

Supplemental data

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Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21246010) and Jiangsu Eastern Coast and Yangtse River Area Development Institute (Z201402).