Abstract
Raw ferruginous kaolinite was characterized as promising materials in the removal of safranin-O dye from water in comparison with fresh kaolinite. The studied samples were characterized utilizing different techniques including XRF, XRD, SEM, and optical polarized microscope. The sample appeared as highly crystalline kaolinite of structural iron impurities and 120-nm average crystallite size. This gives the sample large crystallite size, low basal spacing, and enhanced adsorption capacity and giving it catalytic properties in the advanced oxidation reactions (Fenton’s oxidation, photocatalytic degradation, and photo-Fenton’s oxidation). The kinetic modeling reflected strong agreement with the pseudo-first-order kinetic model of more physical nature and attending the equilibrium after 270 min. The equilibrium study revealed heterogeneous uptake of safranin-O dye by ferruginous kaolinite in multilayer form with experimental q
max
of 59.3 mg/g. Moreover, the sample displayed promising catalytic properties and effective oxidation properties in photocatalytic, Fenton’s, and photo-Fenton’s oxidation processes for the removal of safranin-O dye. Ferruginous kaolinite achieved the best oxidation results by the photo-Fenton process in the presence of 6 mL of the H
2
O
2
at pH 8.