Experimental study of photo electro‐Fenton method for the removal of Reactive Yellow 186: Influence of operational parameters

Abstract Water contamination is a global issue which must be addressed and examined in all water resource policies. In recent decades, Pollution from azo dyes has become a significant cause of concern in the environment. Oxidation procedures are preferred to break down organic molecules found in wastewater. Electrochemical advanced oxidation processes are among the most successful methodologies for pollutant degradation and inspired by the efficiency of the photo electro‐Fenton (PEF). It has been conducted for removals of organic pollutants using anode (Ti), Stainless Steel cathode. Reactive Yellow 186 (RY 186) azo dye in sulphate medium was subjected to this study pH (2–9), dye concentration (0.05–0.25 g/l), Iron dosage (0.01–0.03 g/l), H 2 O 2 (0.1–0.5 g/l) dosage, and current density (0.1–0.5 mA/cm 2 ) of PEF were evaluated. The optimum pH, RY 186 concentration, Iron dosage, H 2 O 2 dosage, and current density were found to be approximately 3, 0.15 g/l, 0.015 g/l, 0.2 g/l, and 0.1 mA/cm 2 , respectively. It was concluded that acidic pH was required to increase the degradation efficiency of the PEF at optimum conditions and a reaction time of 15 min. The PEF approach was the most effective method for the reasons, hydroxyl radical oxidation and UVA radiation, degradation of up to 99%, and COD removal was 94.82% with optimized parameters. Degradation and COD analysis tracked with high‐performance liquid chromatography and infrared spectroscopy analysis. The results were compared with theoretical zero, first and second‐order models. it was found that the process obeys pseudo‐first‐order kinetic and the studies found to fit the data well ( R 2 = 0.9824). The cyclic voltammetry technique was employed to investigate the PEF process.