Synthesis of NiO/Fe3O4 Supported onto Clinoptilolite Zeolite and Evaluating its Performance in the Catalytic Ozonation of Dairy Effluents

In this research, NiO/Fe3O4 magnetic composite supported onto clinoptilolite zeolite (NiO/Fe3O4/CP) was synthesized and characterized by different techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) and vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM). The feasibility of employing NiO/Fe3O4/CP as a catalyst in the catalytic ozonation of dairy effluent was investigated. The effect of four effective operational parameters (catalyst dosage, pH, ozone dosage and time) was investigated. Based on the obtained results, increasing the catalyst and ozone dosage play a vital role in increasing the COD removal efficiency of effluent. The effect of solution pH also showed that the COD removal efficiency of dairy effluent in alkaline solutions is higher than acidic solutions, which can be attributed to the presence of hydroxyl radicals in alkaline environments and their high oxidizing power. The kinetic studies demonstrated that the presence of the NiO/Fe3O4/CP ternary composite in the catalytic ozonation process leads to a doubling of the reaction rate compared to the ozonation process.