Degradation of Dyestuff Pollutant Sudan I Using Advanced Oxidation Process

Abstract

Due to an increasing environmental pollution, a search for the cost effective treatment and disposal of the dyes from the textile effluents is getting more and more importance. Oxidation and reduction processes play important roles in the degradation treatments of the azo dyes. The latter process is more effective and in consequence its mechanism is also better understood. The mechanism of the oxidation processes, the intermediates involved in these reactions and their role in the effectiveness of the oxidative degradation of the azo dyes, viz, phenyl azo b -naphthol (PAN), Sudan I. On exposure to sunlight at 2 1 / 2 hours for various samples in different concentrations of PAN mixed with Fenton reagent, when the reactive intermediate reacted with the colour, the pH vs. absorbance generally showed significant degradation in between pH 5 and 6. The results were compared with the same samples on exposure to uv-light of 254 nm and irradiated at 20 minutes. The degradation occurred in samples of relatively high concentrations, viz, 10 - 3 and 5 × 10 - 4 mol· dm - 3 at near neutral pH 6 whereas. Low concentration samples such as 10 - 4 and 5 × 10 - 5 mol·dm - 3 showed degradation towards more acidic range of pH 2 to 4. In advanced oxidation process (AOP), generally reactive, strongly oxidizing · OH radicals play a main role in destruction of the dye molecules. The proposed mechanisms and the rate coefficients for the reactions of · OH intermediates with the dye molecules and with model compounds are summarized.