Fenton-like Degradation of Reactive Dyes Catalyzed by Biogenic Jarosite

A kind of Fe mineral-biogenic jarosite was prepared by biooxidation of Fe2+ using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. Decolorization of reactive dyes, Reactive Blue 19 (RB) and Reactive Orange 1 (RO), were conducted using as-prepared jarosite as a catalyst in the presence of H2O2 via a Fenton-like reaction process. The experimental results indicated that jarosite can serve as an efficient Fe catalyst to initiate Fenton-like reaction in the process of dye decolorization. 98% of decolorization efficiency of RB was achieved within 105 min of reaction time by using 5 mM H2O2 and 1 g/L jarosite catalyst at pH 5.0. The current investigation may provide a practical and costs-effective way using biogenic Fe minerals for remediation of wastewater contaminated with industrial colorants.