Facile synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles for the effective photodegradation of malachite green dye in aqueous solution

• Published in: Water and environment journal : WEJ Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 513 - 524
• Main Authors: Meena, Parmeshwar Lal, Poswal, Krishna, Surela, Ajay Kumar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2022
• Subjects: absorption; Absorption spectra; Analytical methods; Aqueous solutions; coprecipitation; co‐precipitation method; Dyes; Electron microscopy; energy; energy-dispersive X-ray analysis; environment; Environmental cleanup; Field emission microscopy; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; Fourier transforms; Irradiation; kinetics; Light irradiation; Malachite green; malachite green dye; Nanoparticles; Nanostructure; Photodegradation; photodegradation efficiency; photolysis; remediation; Scanning electron microscopy; Spectroscopic techniques; Synthesis; Ultraviolet radiation; water; Wurtzite; X-ray diffraction; Zinc; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides; ZnO nanoparticles
• ISSN: 1747-6585; 1747-6593
• DOI: 10.1111/wej.12783

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized using a simple co‐precipitation method and applied for effective photodegradation of malachite green (MG) dye in an aqueous solution. The synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopic techniques. XRD pattern is confirmed the formation of crystalline ZnO nanoparticles with hexagonal wurtzite structure while the FESEM image validates the preparation of disc‐like spherical nanostructures agglomerated with the size of 30–50 nm. The nanostructures exhibited a strong UV absorption band at 370 nm, and the bandgap energy calculated from the Tauc plot is 3.12 eV. The prepared ZnO nanoparticles exhibited 92.07% photodegradation efficiency against the MG dye in 2 h of UV light irradiation at pH 8. The experimental data has followed the pseudo‐first‐order kinetic model, and the rate constant value obtained is 20.433 × 10−3 min−1. Thus, the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles degraded MG dye effectively and can be utilized for environmental remediation purposes.