A novel catalyst based on zero-valent iron nanoparticles for assisting electro-fenton process applied to a toxic wastewater

A catalyst based on zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) supported by zeolite Y (zeolite Y-nZVI) was synthesized to improve the performance of the heterogeneous electro-Fenton-like process for treating a toxic pesticide wastewater with pH of 6. Central Composite Design (CCD) under Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to design the experiments and find the optimal parameters including time, current intensity, hydrogen peroxide volume (or concentration) and the synthesized catalyst dosage. The results showed that the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal under the optimal conditions (time of 125 min, current intensity of 272 mA, hydrogen peroxide volume (or concentration) of 0.19 ml (8.102 × 10⁻³ M), and zeolite Y-nZVI catalyst dosage of 1.78 g) was at 83.69 % for treating a wastewater with pH of 6 although this increased to 91.26 % at pH of 3 under the Fenton reactions. In fact, the synthesized catalyst could properly treat wastewater in a pH close to neutral one. Since electro-Fenton is as efficient technique for treating the hazardous pollutants such as pesticide, it can successfully be used by their manufacturing factories. Since it properly works in the acidic pHs, it is not as applied technique for most of industries. Therefore, catalytic electro-Fenton process can be performed in (or near) a neutral pH. Since electro-Fenton is basically associated with iron, a catalyst based on it (such as Fe°) was chosen and supported on an abundant and suitable material such as zeolite. The synthesized catalyst was initially synthesized and characterized, and then successfully applied in the electro-Fenton process to treat a real pesticide containing wastewater obtained from industry.