ZnO/bone-char hybrid composite: Catalyst preparation, characterization and its application

This study was aimed at the development of the ZnO/bone-char (ZnO/BC) hybrid composite and it was characterized for its suitability for the treatment of dye-containing wastewater. The Zn/BC composites were prepared using four different methods such as sol-gel, precipitation, hydrothermal and wet-impregnation methods. Various analysing techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-red (FT-IR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were performed to characterize the prepared photocatalysts. The photocatalytic activity of the ZnO/BC composite prepared from the sol-gel method was evaluated by the decolorization of brilliant green dye in aqueous solution. The results of SEM analysis confirm the agglomeration of nano-ZnO particles and particles are evenly distributed on the surface of the bone char. Moreover, the influence of different experimental parameters like solution pH, H2O2 concentration and photocatalyst dosage was studied to optimize the process efficiency. This study also shows that the chicken bone waste can be used as a photocatalyst carrier for the synthesis of photocatalytic composites. It does not only provide a better way to treat dye-containing wastewater, but also offers an ideal solution to use chicken bone waste. From the kinetic analysis, it has been observed that the photocatalytic decolorization of BG dye with ZnO/BC photocatalyst follows pseudo-first-order kinetics.