Formic acid enhanced effective degradation of methyl orange dye in aqueous solutions under UV–Vis irradiation

Developing efficient technologies to treat recalcitrant organic dye wastewater has long been of great research and practical interest. In this study, a small molecule, formic acid (FA), was applied as a process enhancer for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye as a model recalcitrant organic pollutant in aqueous solutions under the condition of UV-Vis light irradiation and air aeration at the ambient temperature of 25 °C. It was found that the decolouration of the dye solutions can be rapidly achieved, reducing the time, for example, from around 17.6 h without FA to mostly about less than 2 h with the presence of FA. The mineralization rate of MO dye reached as high as 81.8% in 1.5 h in the case of initial MO dye concentration at 25 mg L(-1), which is in contrast to nearly no mineralization of the MO dye for a similar system without the FA added. The study revealed that the generation of the H2O2 species in the system was enhanced and the produced OH radicals effectively contributed to the degradation of the MO dye. Process parameters such as the initial concentration of MO dye, FA dosage and solution pH were all found to have some effect on the degradation efficiency under the same condition of UV-Vis light irradiation and air aeration. The MO dye degradation performance was found to follow a first-order reaction rate to the MO dye concentration in most cases and there existed a positive correlation between the reaction rate constant and the initial FA concentration. Compared to the traditional H2O2/UV-Vis oxidation system, the use of FA as a process-enhancing agent can have the advantages of low cost, easy availability, and safe to use. The study hence demonstrates a promising approach to use a readily available small molecule of FA to enhance the degradation of recalcitrant organic pollutants, such as MO dye, especially for their pre-treatment.