Degradation of the residual textile mixture cetyltrimethylammonium bromide/remazol yellow gold RNL-150%/reactive blue BF-5G: evaluation photo-peroxidation and photo-Fenton processes in LED and UV-C photoreactors

This article presents a study on the degradation of a residual textile mixture composed of cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and the remazol yellow gold RNL-150% and reactive blue BF-5G textile dyes. This was carried out by employing the photo-peroxidation and photo-Fenton processes in LED and UV-C photoreactors. The photo-Fenton process was the most efficient as regards the degradation of the CTAB and dye mixture, for both types of radiation. In the kinetic study, degradations of 99% were obtained in 180 min for the chromophore groups using both types of radiation. The degradation of the CTAB and aromatic groups was, meanwhile, an average of 25% when employing LED radiation. The behavior of the degradation reaction was pseudo-first-order. Toxicity tests indicated that the solutions were better able to grow seeds and bacteria after treatment with the photo-Fenton process, using both types of radiation. The photo-Fenton processes carried out by employing LED and UV-C photoreactors were able to degrade the CTAB and dye mixture, thus highlighting the efficiency of LED radiation when its power (three times smaller) is compared to that of UV-C radiation. This process, therefore, represents an alternative for use in textile wastewater treatment systems.