NANOPARTÍCULAS DE DIÓXIDO DE TITÂNIO E ÓXIDO DE ZINCO: SÍNTESE, CARACTERIZAÇÃO E AÇÃO FOTOCATALÍTICA EM EFLUENTES INDUSTRIAIS

The reuse of effluent water is one of the main challenges to achieve a more sustainable development. Dyes from the textile industry can percolate, contaminate soils and affect water courses. Advanced Oxidative Processes (AOP), such as heterogeneous photocatalysis with UV light radiation and metallic nanoparticles, generate reactive oxygen species and hydroxyl radicals that can reduce effluent pollutants. This work synthesized zinc oxide (ZnO-NP) and titanium dioxide (TiO2-NP) nanoparticles in order to photodegrade methylene blue and tartrazine yellow dyes. The crystallographic and morphological characterization of the nanoparticles was performed by X-ray diffraction and high resolution scanning electron microscopy. The syntheses produced nanometric particles. The methylene blue dye had greater degradation by TiO2-NP (82 to 85%), whereas the tartrazine yellow dye with ZnO-NP (79.6% removal). It is concluded that the nanoparticles combined with POA are an effective alternative for the photocatalytic degradation of dyes.