Fe-modified local clay as effective and reusable heterogeneous photo-Fenton catalyst for the decolorization of Acid Green 25

Locally sourced Bandar Baru clay (BBC) from Kedah in Malaysia was modified with NaCO3 and applied as catalyst support. Six different Fe supported BBC (Fe-BBC) catalysts were prepared with different calcination temperature (300-500 °C) and time (4-6 h) and their activities were tested on the decolorization of Acid Green 25 (AG25) pollutant dye. The best Fe-BBC was that calcined at 300 °C for 4 h, and it was characterized. The BET result showed increase in surface area and pore volume which was supported by the SEM result. The presence of the incorporated Fe in the catalyst was verified with EDX, XRD and FTIR techniques. The best experimental condition decolorized 99% of 50 ppm (AG25) in 20 min with 1.25 g/L Fe-BBC300/4 and 6.7 mM of hydrogen peroxide at pH 3. Its reusability after three cycles showed 97.5% decolorization of 50 ppm of AG25. The versatility of Fe-BBC300/4 was also verified on the decolorization of Reactive Blue 4 and Direct Blue 71.