Cu-Fe bimetallic grafted polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fiber complexes were prepared and optimized as the novel heterogeneous Fenton catalysts for the degradation of reactive dyes under UV irradiation. Cotton fabrics were dyed with three reactive dyes, namely, Reactive Red 195, Reactive Yellow 145, and Reactive Blue 222, in tap fresh water using exhaustion process. The spent dyeing effluents were then collected and degraded with the optimized Cu-Fe bimetallic grafted PTFE fiber complex/H2O2system. The treated dyeing effluents were characterized and reused for the dyeing of cotton fabrics through the same process. The effect of reuse process number on quality of the dyed cotton fabrics was examined. The results indicated that the Cu-Fe bimetallic modified PTFE fiber complex with a Cu/Fe molar ratio of 2.87 was found to be the most effective fibrous catalyst, which enhanced complete decolorization of the treated dyeing effluents with H2O2in 4 h. However, the TOC removal for the treated dyeing effluents was below 80%. The dyeing quality was not affected for three successive cycles. The increase in residual TOC value influences fourth dyeing cycle. Further TOC reduction of the treated effluents is needed for its repeated reuse in more than three dyeing cycles.
Efficiency and mechanisms of rhodamine B degradation in Fenton-like systems based on zero-valent iron
