Removal of bromide from aqueous solutions using the UV/ZnO process based on the multivariate analysis model

Background: Bromide is found naturally in groundwater and surface water. The rapid growth of industrial activities, drainage of surface runoff, and use of methyl bromide in pesticides has increased bromide discharge to the environment. Disinfection of water-containing bromide causes the creation of additional products of organo-halogenated that are considered cancer-causing agents. In this study, the effect and optimization of factors in removal of this ion was evaluated by using the nano-photocatalytic UV/ZnO process. Methods: This analytical study was conducted in a batch system by the phenol-red method. The test design was performed through the analysis model of multi-factor variance with 99 subjects, while the main, interactive, and reciprocal effects of variables, such as reaction time, catalyst concentration, bromide concentration, and pH at different levels of each factor, were analysed by using SPSS version 16. Results: The main, interactive, and reciprocal effects of factors were significant in three different levels with P < 0.001, and the optimal level of the factors reaction time, catalyst concentration, bromide concentration, and pH were 120 minutes, 0.5, 0.1, and 7 mg/L, respectively, by using the Schaffer test. The highest removal efficiency of 95% was obtained at least 91.56 and a maximum of 94.76% was obtained under optimal conditions of all factors. Conclusion: The results show that by optimization of factors, this process can be effectively used to remove bromide from aquatic environments.