Removal of Acid Blue 62 textile dye from aqueous solutions by cerium reagents.

The removal of Acid Blue 62 (AB62) dye which is known as a pollutant agent and contains in wastewater of textile industry has been studied in this work by using five various cerium compounds as the oxidizing agents. The parameters involved in the oxidation reaction such as pH, initial dye concentration and the oxidizing agent dosage have been investigated using both batch and semi-batch reactors at ambient temperature. The results indicated that the rate of oxidation for various cerium reagents is in the following order: CeF4  > (NH4 )2 Ce (NO3 )6  > Ce (SO4 )2  > CeCl3  > Ce (CH3 COO)3 , where cerium fluoride (CeF4 ) had the highest removal yields, 99.9% and 95%, for dye de-colouration and COD (chemical oxygen demand), respectively. The analysis of the dye removal was done by using UV-VIS spectrometry, GC-MS and HPLC methods which indicated the aromatic ring cleavage of AB62 dye by CeF4 . The half-life measurement was employed to evaluate the reaction rate model for decomposition of AB62 dye by CeF4 .