Photocatalytic mediated remediation of synthetic dyes effluent using zero-valent iron: A comparative study

In the present investigation, the zero-valent iron (ZVI) was synthesized using ferrous sulfate for the degradation of synthetic textile effluent. The process variables such as initial dye concentration, ZVI dose, contact time, pH, hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2), and temperature, artificial and solar light intensities were optimized for maximum remediation of synthetic dyes effluent. The maximum degradation (68.64%) of synthetic dyes effluent was obtained at its concentration of 0.02% at pH = 8, ZVI dose 0.1 g mL–1, 75 min reaction time, temperature = 40°C, while degradation efficiency of synthetic dyes effluent was raised to 76.74% using the artificial light intensity of 2,500 lux and 83.43% in solar light during noon timings. The catalytic efficiency of the studied method was assessed using chemical oxygen demand (86.7%) and total organic carbon (87.2%) measurements, which declared the degradation of synthetic dyes effluent. Our study results disclosed that ZVI has the capability and promising potential to decolorize and degradation of other toxic dyes present in wastewater.