Novel Bentonite Clay-Based Fe−Nanocomposite as a Heterogeneous Catalyst for Photo-Fenton Discoloration and Mineralization of Orange II

A novel bentonite clay-based Fe-nanocomposite (Fe-B) was successfully developed as a heterogeneous catalyst for photo-Fenton discoloration and mineralization of an azo-dye Orange II. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis clearly reveals that the Fe-B nanocomposite catalyst mainly consists of Fe2O3 (hematite) and SiO2 (quartz) crystallites, and the Fe concentration of the Fe-B catalyst determined by X-reflective fluorescence (XRF) is 31.8 wt %. The catalytic activity of the Fe-B was evaluated in the discoloration and mineralization of Orange II in the presence of H2O2 and UVC light (254 nm). It was found that the optimal Fe-B catalyst dosage is around 1.0 g/L, and the efficiency of discoloration and mineralization of Orange II increases as initial Orange II concentration decreases or reaction temperature increases. In addition, at optimal conditions (10 mM H2O2, 1.0 g of Fe-B/L, 1 x 8W UVC, and pH = 3.0), complete discoloration and mineralization of 0.2 mM Orange II can be achieved in less than 60 and 120 min, respectively. The result strongly indicates that the Fe-B nanocomposite catalyst exhibits a high catalytic activity not only in the photo-Fenton discoloration of Orange II but also in the mineralization of Orange II. The reaction kinetics analysis illustrates that the photo-Fenton discoloration of Orange II in the first 15 min obeys the pseudo-first-order kinetics. The reaction activation energy calculated was 9.94 kJ/mol, indicating that the photo-Fenton discoloration of Orange II is not very sensitive to reaction temperature.