Comparative performance of catalytic Fenton oxidation with zero-valent iron (Fe(0)) in comparison with ferrous sulphate for the removal of micropollutants

This research aims to depict the comparative performance of micropollutants’ removal by FeSO4- and zero-valent iron (Fe(0))-catalytic Fenton oxidation and to explore the possibilities of minimising the sludge production from the process. The emerging micropollutants used for the study were gabapentin, sulfamethoxazole, diuron, terbutryn and terbuthylazine. The Taguchi method, which evaluates the signal-to-noise ratio instead of the standard deviation, was used to develop robust experimental conditions. Though both FeSO4- and Fe(0)-catalytic Fenton oxidation were able to completely degrade the stated micropollutants, the Fe(0)-catalytic Fenton process delivered better removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC; 70%) than FeSO4 catalytic Fenton oxidation (45%). Fe(0)-catalytic Fenton oxidation facilitated heterogeneous treatment functions, which eliminated toxicity from contaminated solution and there was no recognisable sludge production.