Comparative study of Fe2+/H2O2/CuO/Vis and Fe2+/H2O2/CuO for phenol removal in batik wastewater under visible light irradiation

Abstract

Abstract Phenols contained in batik wastewater are harmful organic compounds. These compounds must go through proper treatment before being discharged into the environment. Therefore, phenol needs to be degraded before discharged into the environment. Fenton reagent which is made of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and Fe2+ ion can form hydroxyl radicals (•OH). This radical can degrade a compound through an oxidation process. CuO is a semiconductor photocatalyst with a narrow bandgap that can be activated under visible light irradiation. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of visible light on the decomposition process of phenol in batik wastewater. The research was conducted by varying the concentration of H2O2, FeSO4 and CuO weight, and pH of the solution. The result showed that visible light can accelerate and increase the formation of hydroxyl radicals so the phenol compound was optimally degraded. The decrease of phenol content in batik wastewater using Fe2+/H2O2/CuO/Vis with the addition of H2O2 100 ppm, FeSO4 1.0 g, CuO 1.0 g, a pH of 3, and irradiated with visible light for 5 hours resulted in the decrease of phenol content was 86.77%.