Electro-assisted heterogeneous activation of persulfate by Fe/SBA-15 for the degradation of Orange II.

The removal of Orange II by activation of persulfate (S2O8(2-), PS) using synthesized Fe/SBA-15 in the electrochemical (EC) enhanced process was reported in this study. The reaction rate constants, degradation mechanism, catalyst stability, and evolution of mineralization and toxicity were detailed investigated. On the basis of radical scavenger results, both the sulfate radicals (SO4(-)) and hydroxyl radicals (OH) were responsible for the degradation of Orange II. A possible pathway is suggested to describe the degradation of Orange II according to the degradation intermediates identified. The results showed that the Fe/SBA-15 catalyst maintained strong reusability and stability with a low level of iron leaching. In addition, favorable mineralization efficiency in terms of COD removal efficiency (75.4%) and TOC removal efficiency (46.3%) was obtained when the reaction time was prolonged to 24h. The toxicity experiments implied that the toxicity of the treated solution ascended at the first 30min but then dropped to almost zero eventually. This study provides a proof-of-concept that can be applied widely for the PS remediation of contaminated water.