Application of Ferrocene in the Treatment of Winery Wastewater in a Heterogeneous Photo-Fenton Process

Abstract

Recent studies in the literature have shown successful applications of the nanomaterial precursor ferrocene (Fc) as a catalyst in heterogeneous photo-Fenton; however, ferrocene has never been used for the treatment of winery wastewater (WW). Therefore, the aim of this work is to: (1) characterize Fc by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM); (2) optimize heterogeneous photo-Fenton in WW treatment; and (3) study the kinetic rate and regeneration of Fc. The FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of Fe2+ in its composition and SEM images showed that Fc is a porous compound. Under the best operational conditions—[Fc] = 0.50 g/L, [H2O2] = 194 mM, pH = 3.0, agitation = 350 rpm, T = 298 K, radiation UV-C, t = 240 min—significant TOC removal was achieved (82.7%). The results showed that the Fc catalyst decreased its stability across three consecutive cycling processes, with the TOC removals decreasing to 82.7, 76.2 and 63.9% for the first, second and third cycles. Fermi’s non-linear kinetic model was applied, observing a kTOC of 4.77 × 10−2 min−1. In conclusion, ferrocene is a suitable compound for the treatment of WW with the heterogeneous photo-Fenton process.