Optimization of the combined adsorption/photo-Fenton method for the simultaneous removal of phenol and paracetamol in a binary system

• The coupling of adsorption and photo-Fenton processes was studied.
• The phenol and paracetamol removing was investigated in a binary system.
• The NaX nanozeolite and cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized.
• The complete elimination of phenol and paracetamol was found during processes.
• The reaction time for phenol and paracetamol removing was decreased to 30 min.

The coupling of adsorption and photo-Fenton processes has been studied for the simultaneous removal of phenol and paracetamol from aqueous systems. Photo-Fenton process exhibited the complete elimination of phenol and paracetamol during 1 h. For mineralization of contact time, the adsorption process was combined to the photo-Fenton process. The both NaX nanozeolites and cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by microwave heating method and were used through the adsorption and photo-Fenton processes, respectively. The nanoparticles were characterized by XRD and SEM analysis. The Box–Behnken design was applied to evaluate the effect of key parameters including pH (3–4), phenol initial concentration (20–100 mg L−1), paracetamol initial concentration (20–100 mg L−1) and NaX to cobalt ferrite nanoparticles ratio (0.5–1.5) on the simultaneous removal of phenol and paracetamol at contact time of 30 min. By optimization of parameters, the removal percentages of phenol and paracetamol were found to be 99.95% and 99.80%, respectively. The results demonstrate that the coupling of adsorption and photo-Fenton processes is an alternative method to eliminate the phenolic compounds from wastewaters.

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