Effect of various parameters during degradation of toxic p-anisidine by Fenton's oxidation

p-Anisidine being a component of wastewater generated through dye and pharmaceutical industries is highly toxic and carcinogenic in nature. Therefore, its presence in wastewater requires prior treatment before its disposal from the point of safety of human and aquatic life. Fenton's oxidation is a type of advanced oxidation processes which is efficient, ecofriendly and reliable, and this was not studied for the removal of p-anisidine from wastewater. In this study, the effect of influent pH, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration and ferrous ion (Fe2+) concentration on the removal of p-anisidine by Fenton's reagent was carried out on a laboratory scale. All samples were examined for initial and final concentrations of p-anisidine using UV-Vis spectrophotometry, and also initial and final COD was analyzed. p-Anisidine shows maximum absorbance at 296 nm. At pH 2.5 and [H2O2]/[Fe2+] of 70:1 for the initial p-anisidine concentration of 0.5 mM and for 24 h reaction time, the maximum removal of p-anisidine was found to be 88.95% and maximum COD removal was 76.43%.