The ability of drinking water treatment sludge to degrade methylene blue in water through combined adsorption/photo Fenton-like process

Abstract

In the present study, drinking water treatment sludge (DWTS) was reused as a catalyst in advanced oxidation processes for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. After determining their chemical and mineralogical compositions by X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), BET surface area, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP), and FT-IR spectra. DWTS has been used as a heterogeneous photo Fenton-Like catalyst for the oxidation of MB under different parameters, including pH (3-6), H₂O₂ concentration (9.79-29.37 mM), and dose (1-2.5 g/L). The results showed that within 180 min and under UV light irradiation, more than 86% of MB having a concentration of 50 mg/L were removed using a catalyst loading of 1.5 g/L, a H₂O₂ dosage of 23.17 mM and a solution pH of 5. The DWTS has a satisfactory stability as the catalyst is stable and have very less iron leaching property.

Keywords:

• Drinking water treatment sludge (DWTS)
• catalyst
• advanced oxidation process
• methylene blue

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Center of Analyses and Characterization (CAC) of Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The authors assure that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.