Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange from Aqueous Solution Using ZnO by Response Surface Methodology

Pollution from dye-containing industrial wastewater is a major health hazard in many nations, necessitating modern remediation approaches. Herein, zinc oxide (ZnO) was employed to degrade methyl orange (MO) as an organic dye pollutant under UV light irradiation. The performance was observed experimentally and theoretically under optimized conditions including the pH (11), the concentration of the nanoparticle solution (900 ppm), and time (3 h), resulting in a degradation efficiency of 89.6%. Furthermore, the influence of various parameters on MO degradation was evaluated by response surface methodology (RSM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was performed to investigate the crystallinity and morphological behavior of ZnO-NPs. In addition, the surface chemical composition was evaluated by the XPS analysis. This study evaluates the degradation efficiency of ~ 90% using single metal oxide to degrade MO, opening new opportunities for environmental applications.