Study of the degradation of Bezaktiv Brilliant Blue by the Fenton process using a prepared ferromagnetic activated carbon from rubber seed hull as heterogeneous catalyst

A ferromagnetic activated carbon, CA-HP@FeII was used as a heterogeneous catalyst in the Fenton oxidation process for the removal of Bezaktiv Brilliant Blue dye from contaminated water. It was pre-pared by optimizing the activation of rubber seed hull with phosphoric acid, modified with iron(II) sulfate. The ferromagnetic activated carbon was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spec-troscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller and pore-size distribution. The characterized activated carbon was used to study the degradation of the Bezaktiv Brilliant Blue dye by varying several parameters, namely the pH of the solution, the concentration of H2O2 solution, the mass of the catalyst, and the concentra-tion of the pollutant. The results of the characterization showed that ferromagnetite was deposited on the activated carbon during the modification process and the obtained ferromagnetic activated carbon have a cubic spinel structure and a specific area of 110.53 m2 center dot g-1. The elimination of the dye was favorable at the acid pH of 3. The removal of the pollutant was favorable when the concentra-tion of H2O2, the mass of the catalyst and the concentration of the pollutant were increased. The final elimination percentage was greater than 75%, whatever the condition and the parameter varied. The second-order kinetic model better described the degradation of Bezaktiv Brilliant Blue pollutant on CA-HP@FeII. An analysis of the ferromagnetic material after degradation showed that it had under-gone very little changes, and hence could be reused several times. The change in the percentage of carbon from 46.54% to 54.86% in the ferromagnetic activated after degradation can be attributed to the mineralization of the carbon atoms of Bezaktiv Brilliant Blue.