Oxidation of acidic dye Eosin Y by the solar photo-Fenton processes

Oxidation of acidic dye Eosin Y has been investigated with Fenton process and photo-Fenton process (solar light or artificial light source). With UV-Fenton process and Fenton, 42.5% and 21.3% of dye could be removed from the water, respectively. However, 94.1% of dye was removed in solar-Fenton in 90min. Based on solar-Fenton process, the effect of pH value and the concentration of dye, Fe(2+), H(2)O(2) as well as oxalic acid concentration on Eosin Y degradation efficiency were investigated. In 60min, 96% of Eosin Y was degraded when the pH value was 3.5 and the concentration of Fe(2+), H(2)O(2) and oxalic acid was 10mol/L, 600mg/L and 300mg/L, respectively. The Eosin Y degradation was dependent on the dye concentration. That is higher Eosin Y concentration resulted in lower degradation efficiency. Under the conditions of pH 3.5, the Eosin Y apparent kinetics equation was -dC/dt=0.000249[Eosin Y](0.78)[Fe(2+)](1.14)[H(2)O(2)](1.26). Meanwhile, this research also proved that oxalic acid could improve the photocatalytic efficiency in the solar-Fenton process.