ZnO/UV/H₂O₂ Based Advanced Oxidation of Disperse Red Dye

Abstract

Abstract In view of promising efficiency of advanced oxidation process, ZnO/UV/H 2 O 2 based advanced oxidation process (AOP) was employed for the degradation of Disperse Red-60 (DR-60) in aqueous medium. The process variables such as concentration of catalysts, reaction time, pH, dye initial concentration and H 2 O 2 dose were evaluated for maximum degradation of dye. The maximum degradation of 97% was achieved at optimum conditions of H 2 O 2 (0.9 mL/L), ZnO (0.6 g/L) at pH 9.0 in 60 min irradiation time. The analysis of treated dye solution revealed the complete degradation under the effect of ZnO/UV/H 2 O 2 treatment. The water quality parameters were also studied of treated and un-treated dye solution and up to 79% COD and 60% BOD reductions were achieved when dye was treated with at optimum conditions. The dissolved oxygen increased up to 85.6% after UV/H 2 O 2 /ZnO treatment. The toxicity was also monitored using hemolytic and Ames tests and results revealed that toxicity (cytotoxicity and mutagenicity) was also reduced significantly. In view of promising efficiency of UV/H 2 O 2 /ZnO system, it could possibly be used for the treatment of wastewater containing toxic dyes.