Reduction of an azo dye Acid Black 24 solution using synthesized nanoscale zerovalent iron particles

The strong color and high total organic carbon (TOC) of laboratory-synthesized azo dye, C.I. Acid Black 24 (AB24), solution was substantially reduced with particles of chemically synthesized nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) under varied conditions of experimental variables such as NZVI dosage, initial dye concentration, and pH. From the results, the synthesized NZVI particles can effectively remove color and TOC of AB24 dye solution under certain conditions. The best removal efficiencies for color and TOC were obtained as 98.9 and 53.8%, respectively, with an initial dye concentration of 100 mg L-1 and an NZVI dosage of 0.3348 gL(-1). Additionally, the removal rates followed an empirical rate equation with respect to the initial dye concentration as well as the NZVI dosage. The NZVI dosage addition exponentially increments the removal efficiency, with observed empirical reaction rate constants (k) of 0.046-0.063 min(-1) for added NZVI of 0.0335-0.3348 gL(-1). Moreover, the largest unit removal capacity was 609.4 mg of AB24 uptake for each gram of NZVI (i.e., 609.4 mg AB24/g NZVI). Ultimately, the ideal operation conditions were 0.1674-0.3348 gL(-1) of NZVI dosage, 15-30 min of reaction time, and pH 4-9 for 25-100 mg L-1 of initial dye concentration. (C) Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.