Application of copper tailings combined with persulfate for better removing methyl orange from wastewater

In this paper, wasted copper tailings (CT) were used to activate persulfate (PS) to degrade azo dye methyl orange (MO). The results show that a large amount of FeS 2 contained in CT can slowly release Fe 2+ in the aqueous solution to activate PS to generate reactive oxygen species to degrade MO. When the dosage of CT and PS was 2 g/L and 3 mM respectively, the MO degradation efficiency of 20 mg/L in the CT/PS system was 96.52% within 60 min. At the same time, it is found that CT has a certain adsorption capacity for MO, and the intra-particle diffusion model can well describe the adsorption process of MO by CT. The effects of related reaction parameters (CT dosage, PS dosage, initial MO concentration and solution pH) on MO degradation in CT/PS system were investigated. Compared with the direct addition of an equal amount of Fe 2+ as in the CT/PS system, for homogeneous activated PS to degrade MO (Fe 2+ /PS), the results showed that the degradation efficiency of Fe 2+ /PS system for MO was lower than that of CT/PS system due to excessive Fe 2+ consumption of ⁠ . By comparing the Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ concentrations in the two systems, it was found that the CT/PS system could maintain a low Fe 2+ concentration during the reaction process, and the Fe 2+ released by CT could be used by PS to degrade MO more efficiently. The free radical scavenging experiments showed that the reactive oxygen species in the CT/PS system was mainly ⁠ . This study not only proposed a new CT utilization approach, but also solved the problem of reduced degradation efficiency of organic pollutants caused by excessive Fe 2+ in the Fenton-like reaction. This study provides a new way to utilize the waste copper tailings which are harmful to the environment. It also overcomes the defects of degradation of organic pollutants by Fe 2+ homogeneous activated persulfate to some extent.