Green fabrication of ZnO nanoparticles using Eucalyptus spp. leaves extract and their application in wastewater remediation

Abstract

The present study explored removal of carcinogenic cationic and anionic dyes from aqueous medium using green fabricated zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs). The ZnO-NPs were synthesized employing biogenic green reduction and precipitation approach. The characterization of ZnO NPs was done using various techniques such as FESEM, XRD, BET, TGA, HRTEM, EDX, and FTIR. All experiments were conducted in batch mode. Maximum removal was achieved at pH 6.0 and pH 8.0 for Congo Red (CR) and Malachite Green (MG) dyes respectively. Dye adsorption process showed better fit with Langmuir and Temkin isotherm models for CR dye and MG dye respectively. Maximum adsorption capacity of ZnO NPs was 48.3 mg/g for CR dye and 169.5 mg/g for MG dye. The dye adsorption followed pseudo-second order model and values of thermodynamic parameters confirmed that the adsorption process was spontaneous and favourable. Reusability efficiency of the nanoparticle was explored using ethanol and water and based on results it was inferred that ZnO-NPs can be reused for dye removal. Effect of salinity on the removal of CR and MG dyes was also explored and found that presence of salinity in aqueous medium have adverse impact on the dye removal efficiency of ZnO-NPs.