Enhanced degradation of Direct Red 80 dye via Fenton-like process mediated by cobalt ferrite: generated superoxide...

Azo dyes, widely used in the textile industry, contribute to effluents with significant organic content. Therefore, the aim of this work was to synthesize cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄) using the combustion method and assess its efficacy in degrading the azo dye Direct Red 80 (DR80). TEM showed a spherical structure with an average size of 33 ± 12 nm. Selected area electron diffraction and XRD confirmed the presence of characteristic crystalline planes specific to CoFe₂O₄. The amount of Co and Fe metals were determined by ICP-OES, indicating an n(Fe)/n(Co) ratio of 2.02. FTIR exhibited distinct bands corresponding to Co-O (455 cm^-1) and Fe-O (523 cm^-1) bonds. Raman spectroscopy detected peaks associated with octahedral and tetrahedral sites. For the first time, the material was applied to degrade DR80 in an aqueous system, with the addition of persulfate. Consistently, within 60 min, these trials achieved nearly 100% removal of DR80, even after the material had undergone five cycles of reuse. The pseudo-second-order model was found to be the most fitting model for the experimental data (k₂ = 0.07007 L mg^-1 min^-1). The results strongly suggest that degradation primarily occurred via superoxide radicals and singlet oxygen. Furthermore, the presence of UV light considerably accelerated the degradation process (k₂ = 1.54093 L mg^-1 min^-1). The material was applied in a synthetic effluent containing various ions, and its performance consistently approached 100% in the photo-Fenton system. Finally, two degradation byproducts were identified through HPLC-MS/MS analysis.