Schorl: a novel catalyst in mineral-catalyzed Fenton-like system for dyeing wastewater discoloration

Mineral-catalyzed Fenton-like system has been found to be effective for the discoloration of dyeing wastewater. In our present study, schorl has been successfully developed as a novel heterogeneous catalyst for discoloration of an active commercial dye, Argazol blue (BF-BR), in an aqueous solution. Through a number of batch discoloration experiments under various conditions, it was found that the reactivity of the system increased by, respectively, increasing schorl dosage, temperature, hydrogen peroxide starting concentration and by decreasing the pH. At the condition of pH 2, T=55 degrees C, [BF-BR](0)=200mg/L, [H(2)O(2)](0)=48.5 mmol/L and schorl dosage=10 g/L, 100% of discoloration ratio can be achieved in less than 4 min, and 72% of total organic carbon (TOC) can be removed in less than 200 min. The reaction kinetics analysis shows that the discoloration of BF-BR follows the first-order kinetics. The schorl samples after BF-BR discoloration was tested by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the results rule out the possibility of formation of new solid phases during BF-BR discoloration. The content of Fe ion leaching in the solution was also measured using inductively coupling plasma-atomic emission spectra (ICP-AES). A mechanism proposed herein indicates adsorption and Fenton-like reaction (heterogeneous and homogeneous) are responsible for the discoloration of BF-BR.