Synthesis of Zinc-based Bimetallic Nanoparticles for the Degradation of Industrial Dyes

Abstract

Textile dyes are a prominent source of coloured organic substances that present an increasingly concerning risk to biodiversity. This problem could be remediated by incorporating nanoparticles as photocatalysts in photodegradation activities. The photocatalytic degradation of brilliant blue and Amaranth dyes has been investigated using ZnO-Fe2O3 bimetallic nanoparticles (Zn-Fe BN) in an aqueous media under sun rays. The Zn-Fe BN was synthesized using a chemical synthesis technique utilizing FeCl3 and ZnSO4·7H2O as starting materials and further characterized using XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDAX and DLS techniques. The degradation rate was examined by recording the absorbance value via a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The experimental results demonstrated that the synthesized Zn-Fe BN was an effective catalyst in removing the dyes from water. The decomposition rate was effective with variations in the reaction parameters. As the concentration of the NaOH solution was increased, an increment in the rate of degradation was observed simultaneously, as well as for different amounts of catalyst. Hence, the removal of textile dyes could be made easier by adopting the methodology.