Catalytic ozonation of simulated textile dyeing wastewater using mesoporous carbon aerogel supported copper oxide catalyst

Textile dyeing uses large amount of freshwater and synthetic dyes. Its effluents have to be subjected to certain treatments to remove the contaminants, especially for residue dyestuffs, before discharging to water bodies for elimination of adverse impacts to the environment. The objective of this research is to fabricate a novel catalyst, carbon aerogel supported copper oxide, and study its catalytic performance for the first time in ozonation of simulated dyeing wastewater for dye degradation. The catalyst was prepared using sol-gel and impregnation method, and characterized by Transmission Electron Microscope and X-Ray Diffraction techniques which suggesting that the nano-sized copper oxide particles successfully embedded and well-dispersed in the amorphous carbon aerogel. The catalytic performance of the catalyst was evaluated by degradation of C.I. Reactive Black 5 in a semi-continuous reactor. The results show that the catalyst has promising potential in ozonation towards dye elimination in dyeing wastewater, in which the dye removal efficiency can be effectively enhanced by the catalyst. In the specific conditions, COD removal could reach 46% in catalytic ozonation system after 60-min reaction, while it was only 29% in ozonation alone without catalyst. In addition, a systematic parameter study was performed to investigate the effect of the temperature, pH, ozone dosage, catalyst amount and dye concentration on dye degradation in terms of color and COD removal.