The Role of Adsorption‐Fenton Oxidation in Degradation of Phenolic Contaminants by Fabrication of Bionanocomposite from Industrial Residue

Abstract Phenolic contaminants have acquired notable attention in recent years owing to their high toxicity even at low concentrations. This study reports the potential of cost‐effective activated carbon/chitosan/zero‐valent iron nanocomposite obtained from industrial waste residues on the adsorption and degradation of phenol, 2‐chlorophenol, and 2,4‐dichlorophenol from aqueous solution. The Fenton oxidation can supplement the pre‐adsorption process by altering to less hazardous compounds. The impact of initial concentration, contact time, nanocomposite dosage, pH, oxidant dosage, and temperature were monitored. The best matches among three adsorption isotherms Langmuir, Freundlich, and Harkins‐Jura were to Freundlich isotherm and the maximum adsorption capacity of phenol, 2‐chlorophenol and 2,4‐dichlorophenol reached 50.2512, 119.0476 and 114.9425 respectively. Furthermore, the activation energy, kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of Fenton‐oxidation were perused and affirmed that Fenton reactions are spontaneous with no energy barriers. The removal efficiency of phenol, 2‐chlorophenol, and 2,4‐dichlorophenol by synthesized nanocomposite was 97.7 %, 98.9 %, and 99 %, respectively.