Cleaner reactive dyeing with the recycled dyeing wastewater

In order to recycle water and inorganic salts, sodium persulphate (SPS) was used to degrade the C.I. Reactive Red 195 (RR195) dyeing wastewater. The thermodynamic and kinetic relationships of RR195 dyeing in cleaner and conventional dyeing processes were analyzed and compared. The feasibility of the one-bath cyclic dyeing in the recycled dyeing wastewater was confirmed through the properties of dye utilization, color parameters and energy conservation. The appropriate conditions were 0.3 g/L of SPS and treatment at 95 °C for 30 min, which resulted in a decolorization rate of 99.7% for the dyeing wastewater, mainly due to the action of radical sulfate. When cotton fabric was dyed with the cleaner dyeing, the kinetic was pseudo-second-order and the thermodynamic was Freundlich adsorption. There was a 47.5% reduction in half dyeing time, a greater diffusion coefficient and standard affinity, and lower entropy and enthalpy values when dyeing in reused wastewater. Cotton fabrics were dyed with the proposed cleaner dyeing process, which reduced the amount of water and inorganic salt by 95.8% and 89.8%, respectively. The total organic carbon (TOC), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were 53.6%, 69.8% and 42.6% lower than the conventional dyeing process, respectively. The recommended technology not only reduces the amount of dyeing wastewater but also enables the recycling of inorganic salts and water, which makes great progress in the textile industry. •Thermally activated persulfate oxidation can treat dyeing wastewater effectively.•Cleaner reactive dyeing with the recycled dyeing wastewater was realized.•SO4•− is the main component that destroys dye.•95.8% water and 89.8% inorganic salt can be saved.