Synthesis of Nano-Photocatalyst ZnO-Natural Zeolite to Degrade Procion Red
The development of textile factories has had a significant impact on the environment because dye wastewater is difficult to degrade. The handling of textile wastewater usually involves the adsorption method, in which pollutants only transfer to another phase. As an alternative solution, a photod...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universitas Indonesia
2020-07-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Technology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ijtech.eng.ui.ac.id/article/view/3800 |
| Summary: | The development of textile factories has had a
significant impact on the environment because dye wastewater is difficult to
degrade. The handling of textile wastewater usually involves the adsorption
method, in which pollutants only transfer to another phase. As an alternative
solution, a photodegradation method was developed using photocatalyst material
assisted by ultraviolet irradiation. In this photodegradation method, dye
substances are broken down into components that are simpler and safer for the
environment. The possibility of using sunlight as a radiation source makes this
a particularly promising method for countries such as Indonesia. Procion red,
one of the most commonly utilized synthetic dyes in the home textile or Batik
industry, was used as a model pollutant in this study. The objectives of the
present research were to synthesize and characterize a nano-photocatalyst of
ZnO-natural zeolite with the capacity to degrade Procion red. This
nano-photocatalyst was synthesized using the sol-gel method, by which Zn(CH3COO)2
2H2O was used as a precursor and combined with natural zeolite to
increase its photocatalytic ability. The nano-photocatalyst was characterized
using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive
X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The activity of
nano-photocatalyst ZnO-natural zeolite was compared to ZnO alone and natural
zeolite alone in terms of its ability to degrade Procion red. An average
photocatalyst crystallite diameter of 82 nm was achieved, proving that a
nano-sized photocatalyst of ZnO-natural zeolite was successfully synthesized.
BET characterization showed that nano-photocatalyst ZnO-natural zeolite had a
specific surface area of 14.84 m2/g, a pore size of 32.71 nm, and a
pore volume of 0.12 cm2/g. A peak Procion red degradation percentage
of 96.23% was obtained using nano-photocatalyst ZnO-natural zeolite after 120
minutes of irradiation under sunlight applied to a Procion red concentration of
50 ppm. |
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| ISSN: | 2086-9614 2087-2100 |