Kinetic Studies of Fenton Oxidation Reaction by UV-VIS Spectroscopy

Chemical reaction engineering is one of the core courses for chemical engineering students. Laboratory exercise is an essential part of this course. The goal of this laboratory exercise is to demonstrate the possibility of using an in-situ spectroscopic method (UV-VIS spectroscopy) to investigate reaction kinetics. A solution of naphthol blue black (NBB) is oxidized by H2O2 through a Fenton oxidation process. In this exercise, the concentration of NBB was monitored by the UV-VIS spectroscopy, while the concentrations of H2O2, FeSO4 and different pH levels may be adjusted to enable students to obtain a wide range of reaction kinetic data. The reaction rate constant, kapp, can be estimated with a pseudo-first-order kinetic model. In addition, the reaction temperature was adjusted to investigate the decomposition activation energy (Ea), which exhibited a value of 56.0±7 kJ mol-1.