Decolorization and mineralization of C.I. Acid Yellow 23 by Fenton and photo-Fenton processes

The degradation of azo dye C.I. Acid Yellow 23 (AY23) by Fenton and photo-Fenton processes was investigated. The degradation rate is strongly dependent on the pH, initial concentrations of the dye, Fe2+, H2O2 and UV light intensity. The effect of these parameters has been studied and the optimum operational conditions of these two processes were found. The optimum conditions were obtained at pH = 3 for the H2O2/Fe2+ and UV/H2O2/Fe2+ systems. The photo-Fenton process proved to be the most efficient and occurs at a much higher oxidation rate than Fenton process and allows achieving 90% degradation of aromatic content of AY23 in about 10 min of reaction time.