Degradation of Reactive Yellow X-RG by O3/Fenton system: response surface approach, reaction mechanism, and degradation pathway

O 3 /Fenton for the treatment of effluent containing Reactive Yellow X-RG is investigated. The response surface methodology is applied to study the main and interactive effects of the parameters. With the initial dye concentration being controlled at 300 mg L −1 , the optimized conditions for wastewater treatment are 3.68, 29.19 and 18.49 mg min −1 for initial pH, mole ratio of [H 2 O 2 ]/[Fe 2+ ] and ozone dosage, respectively. The regression quadratic model well describing the degradation efficiency of O 3 /Fenton process is developed and validated by the analysis of variances, respectively. In addition, a possible pathway for Reactive Yellow X-RG degradation is proposed by detecting the temporal evolution of intermediates in the solution, with the use of some techniques including UV-Vis, FT-IR and GC/MS. Meanwhile, every reaction step is given to explain the degradation mechanisms.