African Journal of
Pure and Applied Chemistry

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Pure Appl. Chem.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0840
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJPAC
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 368

Full Length Research Paper

Decolorization and mineralization of brilliant golden yellow (BGY) by Fenton and photo-Fenton processes

Md. Ahsan Habib1*, Iqbal Mohmmad Ibrahim Ismail2, Abu Jafar Mahmood1 and Md. Rafique Ullah3
1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh. 2Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. 3Department of Chemistry, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 25 May 2011
  •  Published: 31 December 2012

Abstract

The decolorization and mineralization of an azo dye, brilliant golden yellow (BGY, ï¬max416 nm, ï¥ = 7.81 x 103 Lmol-1 cm-1) by Fenton and photo-Fenton processes were investigated. The rate of decolorization is strongly dependent on the pH, initial concentrations of the dye, Fe(II) and H2O2. The effect of these parameters has been studied and the optimum operational conditions of these two methods were found. The optimum conditions were obtained at pH=3 for both processes. The photo-Fenton method proved to be the most efficient and occurs at a much higher oxidation rate than Fenton process. The results showed that about 99% of the dye decolorized within 20 and 5 min for Fenton and photo-Fenton processes, respectively. Characterization of the products after mineralization is discussed.

 

Keywords: Dye pollution, Fenton and photo-Fenton processes, brilliant golden yellow, decolorization, mineralization.