Fabrication of the Ordered Mesoporous nZVI/Zr-Ce-SBA-15 Composites Used for Crystal Violet Removal and Their Optimization Using RSM and ANN–PSO

Crystal violet (CV), a triphenylmethane dye, is widely used in the textile, printing, paper, leather, and cosmetics industries. However, due to its higher chemical stability and lower biodegradability, CV has teratogenic and carcinogenic toxic effects on animals and humans. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate whether or not the as-prepared nZVI supported on an ordered mesoporous Zr-Ce-SBA-15 composite (nZVI/Zr-Ce-SBA-15) had more potential for CV removal from simulated wastewater in comparison with Zr-Ce-SBA-15. Meanwhile, the parameters of CV adsorption onto nZVI/Zr-Ce-SBA-15 composites were optimized by a response surface methodology (RSM) and an artificial neural network combined with particle swarm optimization (ANN–PSO). According to XRD, FTIR, SEM, and TEM, N2 adsorption, and thermogravimetric analyses, nZVI was supported successfully on Zr-Ce-SBA-15 composites, becoming an ordered mesoporous material. The results of RSM indicated that the order of the effects of the four parameters on CV removal was, successively, initial pH, contact time, temperature, and initial CV concentration. ANN–PSO was more suitable, in comparison to RSM, to optimize the experimental parameters for CV removal from simulated wastewater using ordered mesoporous nZVI/Zr-Ce-SBA-15 composites. The optimized removal rate of CV was 93.87% under an initial pH of 3.00, a contact time of 20.00 min, an initial CV concentration of 261.00 mg/L, and a temperature of 45. Pseudo-second-order kinetics can better describe the behavior of CV adsorption onto nZVI/Zr-Ce-SBA-15 composites. The process of CV adsorption onto Zr-Ce-SBA-15 composites was followed by the Langmuir model, and its maximum adsorption capacity was 105 mg/g in 213 K. It was indirectly confirmed that the maximum adsorption capacity of nZVI/Zr-Ce-SBA-15 exceeded this value because the removal efficiency of CV using nZVI/Zr-Ce-SBA-15 was obviously higher than that of using Zr-Ce-SBA-15. The thermodynamics results indicated that CV adsorption onto nZVI/Zr-Ce-SBA-15 was a spontaneous, endothermic, and entropy-driven process. The dissolution of Fe ions and light/dark experiments confirmed nZVI/Zr-Ce-SBA-15 was simultaneously of adsorption and catalysis in the process of CV removal. The effect of removal CV was still maintained in the first four experiments (removal rate > 78%), and our suggestion is that nZVI/Zr-Ce-SBA-15 is a potential adsorbent for CV remediation from wastewater compared to Zr-Ce-SBA-15 and other adsorbents.