Background: Industrial dyes are toxic and carcinogenic, therefore, they should be removed from
wastewater. The aim of this study was to investigate the removal of acid orange 7 Dye from wastewater
using ultraviolet (UV) radiation, MgO nanoparticles, ultrasonic method alone and in combination with
each other.
Methods: The effects of some factors such as temperature, pH, hydraulic retention time (HRT), UV
power, and concentration of MgO nanoparticles on the removal of Acid Orange 7 dye from synthetic
wastewater using different methods were investigated. Also, adsorption isotherms for MgO nanoparticles
and kinetics for UV radiation were investigated.
Results: The optimum HRT was 55 minutes while the temperature was not effective in dye removal
using the ultrasonic method. Under optimum conditions for UV irradiation method (HRT = 70
minutes, UV power = 170 mW/cm2, and temperature = 10˚C), 58% of the dye was removed. However,
under optimum conditions for MgO nanoparticles method (HRT = 15 minutes, temperature = 20˚C,
and ratio of MgO nanoparticles to the initial dye concentration = 67.2), 82% of the dye was removed.
By combining these methods, the dye removal efficiency was significantly increased. The combination
of ultrasonic method and MgO nanoparticles had no significant effect on increasing the dye removal
efficiency from wastewater. It was revealed that dye removal using UV radiation can be described by
the first-order kinetics.
Conclusion: According to the results, UV radiation has a synergistic effect on the dye adsorption
process by MgO nanoparticles. Therefore, the combination of these methods can be effective for the
removal of dye from wastewater.