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Preparation of Nickel Slag–Based Microelectrolysis Filler Material and Eco-friendly Utilization in the Degradation of Azo Compound Wastewater

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Abstract

A microelectrolytic filler (MEF) was prepared on the based on the concept of “treating waste with waste,” using nickel slag as raw material through the carbon thermal reduction method. The degradation rate of methyl orange (MO) in water was used to evaluate the performance of the MEF. The effects of the preparation conditions and reaction parameters on the MEFs were investigated. The results showed that the degradation rate of MO was the highest when the dosage of coal was 35%, the roasting time was 80 min, the dosage of MEF was 7 g/L, and the initial pH of the solution was 2. The MEF was applied on degradation of azo compound in wastewater. Under the best conditions, the degradation rate of MO reached on 99.66% at 5 min, and it was nearly completely degraded at 60 min. The X-ray powder diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis results indicated that iron oxides from nickel slag were reduced to zero-valent iron (ZVI) as MEF with the temperature increasing. The degradation mechanism was analyzed by ultraviolet (UV) absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) study. The results showed that the degradation of MO in water was due to the destruction of the azo double bond of MO by the active hydrogen [H] produced in the microelectrolytic system. MO was degraded to produce the intermediate sulfanilic acid (SA), which continued to degrade. DFT calculations showed that the adsorption of surfaces and citric acid and its degradation products on Fe surfaces was mainly attributed to the Fe–O chemical bonding between the Fe atoms in the substrate surface and the oxygen atoms in the molecule.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was funded by the State Key Laboratory of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization, Kunming University of Science and Technology under Grant No. CNMRCUKF2006, Open Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Mineral Processing under Grant No. BGRIMM-KJSKL-2020–25, and Foundation of Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. LQ21E040002.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315211, China

    Jiaxing Cai & Yunye Cao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Mineral Processing, Beijing, 102628, China

    Yunye Cao

  3. State Key Laboratory of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization, Kunming, 650093, China

    Yunye Cao

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, China

    Yue Zhang

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  1. Jiaxing Cai
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Cai, J., Zhang, Y. & Cao, Y. Preparation of Nickel Slag–Based Microelectrolysis Filler Material and Eco-friendly Utilization in the Degradation of Azo Compound Wastewater. Water Air Soil Pollut 235, 208 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-024-07015-6

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