Kaolin-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron for removing cationic dye–crystal violet in aqueous solution

The degradation of crystal violet in aqueous solution was investigated using kaolin-supported zero-valent iron nanoparticles (K-nZVI). It was found that K-nZVI with a ratio of kaolin:zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) at 1:1 was most effective in removing crystal violet. Batch experiments show that more than 97.29 % crystal violet was degraded using K-nZVI, while only 24.36 % was removed using nZVI after reacting for 7 min, where the solution contained 100 mg L−1 crystal violet at pH 6.5. This is due to a decrease in aggregation of Fe0 nanoparticles and enhanced their reactivity in the presence of kaolin, which was confirmed by the characterization using scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction shows the formation of iron oxide and hydroxide, while UV–Vis spectral shows that the absorption peak of crystal violet was reduced, as well as Fourier transform infrared shows that new bands were formed after K-nZVI reacting with crystal violet. These suggest that degradation of crystal violet by K-nZVI include the oxidation of iron, the adsorption of crystal violet onto the K-nZVI, the transformation of crystal violet to leuko-crystal violet, and finally the cleavage of C=C bond.