Low cost Fenton's oxidative degradation of 4-nitroaniline using iron from laterite

The present study aims to establish the use of iron (Fe) from larerite in the case of Fenton's oxidation process which is a simple and cost-effective method for degradation of nitro compounds in effluents and in surface or ground water. 4-nitroaniline (4-NA) degradation by Fenton's oxidation method is the subject of the present study so as to optimize pH, hydrogen peroxide/iron (H/F) ratio at different initial concentrations of 4-NA. The optimum pH obtained was 3. The present study has also established optimum H/F ratio for the different initial concentrations of 4-NA for both conventional and use of Fe from laterite. The maximum removal efficiency of 99.84% was obtained for an H/F ratio of 100 for 0.5 mM initial concentration of 4-NA. The study establishes the use of Fe extracted from locally available laterite soil (LS) as a replacement of Fe salts so as to reduce the cost of the process.