Preparation and Characterization of ZnO-Zeolite Nanocomposite for Photocatalytic Degradation by Ultraviolet Light

Abstract

The increasing growth of the textile industry does not only provide benefits in the economic sector but also has the potential to damage the environment, because it generates the dye wastewater which is hard to eliminate. Procion red is one of the synthetic textile dyes that is toxic to the aquatic environment and it needs to be processed properly. The photocatalytic method of processing dye wastewater is the most effective, because it can remove the harmful pollutants in the dye wastewater. This study aimed to prepare and characterize the ZnO-Zeolite nanocomposites for photocatalytic applications tested with a 50 mg/L procion red dye sample. The nanocomposites consisted of the ZnO semiconductors and synthetic zeolite adsorbents prepared by using the sol-gel method. The dye degradation test was carried out under the irradiation conditions with ultraviolet (UV) lamp. Apart from the ZnO-Zeolite nanocomposite, testing was also carried out with the synthetic zeolite and ZnO. The results of SEM-EDX and XRD characterization proved that the nanocomposite forming components were ZnO and zeolite and could be seen from the resulting peaks. BET showed that the surface area value of the ZnO-Zeolite nanocomposite increased to 95.98 m 2 /g, the pore size of the ZnO-Zeolite nanocomposite was 4.42 nm, and the total pore volume was 0.08 cm³/g. The obtained average crystalline size of ZnO-Zeolite nanocomposite was 32.87 nm. The percentage of dye degradation using the ZnO-Zeolite nanocomposite for 120 minutes has reached 90.42%.

High photodegradation performance of ZnO nanoparticles supported on porous Zeolite Na-A: Effects of ZnO loading

“…Generally it was observed that ZnO loaded catalyst had displayed higher porosity as compared to pure ZnO which leads to enhanced adsorption of the pollutant molecules and thus improving photocatalytic ability. The obtained textural properties of the Zno/Zeolite Na-A catalyst were in agreement with results from previous studies such as Gayatri et al, [16] who worked on ZnO/Zeolite Na-A and obtained SBET, pore size and pore volume of 95.98 m 2 /g, 44.2 Å and 0.08 cm 3 /g respectively. They attributed the obtained pore size to pore widening due to removal of impurities after the ZnO/zeolite activation treatment.…”

Clay-Supported Metal Oxide Nanoparticles in Catalytic Advanced Oxidation Processes: A Review

“…For example, the dispersion of Pt nanoparticles into mesoporous Co 3 O 4 was reported to increase the catalytic oxidative degradation efficiency toward methylene blue (MB) dye, with almost 100% removal after 60 min of treatment [ 64 , 65 ]. Similar results were recorded from supported ZnO nanoparticles using zeolite [ 66 , 67 ], supported iron nanoparticles using zeolite [ 68 , 69 ], and supported Au nanoparticles into TiO 2 and BiVO 4 [ 70 , 71 ]. Microporous and mesoporous solids were employed for supporting metal and metal oxide nanoparticles; some of them are noted to be low-cost supports such as zeolite, silica, graphene, carbon, C 3 N 4 , and clay minerals [ 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 ].…”

Fabrication and Application of Zeolite/Acanthophora Spicifera Nanoporous Composite for Adsorption of Congo Red Dye from Wastewater

“…Among the used adsorbents, zeolite is a natural adsorbent with porous architectures. In addition to the traditional application of zeolite to soften water, it is used in catalytic processes, membrane separation, alternative zeolite processing, wastewater treatment, antimicrobial applications, construction, coating, pulps, and paper [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. However, its dye adsorption capability is restricted by its compacted structure (low pore volume), which reduces its cationic exchange capacity and adsorption capabilities.…”