The role of cobalt and copper nanoparticles on performance of magnetite-rich waste material in Fenton reaction

In this study, electric arc furnace dust, waste of steelmaking industry, was selected as heterogeneous Fenton catalysts for degradation of methylene blue solution. Co and Cu nanoparticles were added on EAF dust via impregnation method and characterized by ICP, XRF, XRD, BET, FESEM and HRTEM techniques. The Co/EAF catalyst displayed the best activity in removing high concentrated methylene blue solution (50mgL(-1)) with initial pH, where decolorization was measured as response. Furthermore, response surface methodology with central composite design was applied to evaluate the effects of initial pH, catalyst dosage, the molar ratio of H2O2 to MB and their interactive effect. According to ANOVA results, quadratic model was suggested as a significant model. This statistical technique revealed that the low-cost and magnetic recyclable Co/EAF heterogeneous Fenton catalyst had suitable catalytic activity in different reaction conditions and able to remove methylene blue completely. Finally, we studied the catalytic activity of Co/EAF as the best catalyst, in dye removing from textile factory wastewater.