Optimizing surface adsorption of Congo red anionic dye on zinc oxide/carbon quantum dots composite by response surface method
Subject Areas :
Fahimeh Jammi
1
,
Zahra Yavari
2
*
,
Hamideh Saravani
3
1 - Department of Chemistry, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
2 - Department of Chemistry, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
3 - Department of Chemistry, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
Keywords: Congo red, Porous adsorbent, Carbon quantum dot, Textile effluent, Response surface methodology,
Abstract :
: The removal of colored pollutants from textile effluent is a significant challenge. The adsorption process is an efficient and suitable method for removing pollutants. In the present study, porous zinc oxide was prepared by solution combustion synthesis method, and then, carbon quantum dots by using lemon and onion juices were loaded into the cavities and surface of the prepared zinc oxide. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the synthesis of zinc oxide in the hexagonal crystal system. The obtained composite was used to remove Congo red from the aqueous solution. The effects of pH, time, temperature and Congo red concentration on its removal efficiency in the presence of as-synthesized composite was studied with experimental design by using Design Expert 12 software and response surface methodology. By heating the adsorbent saturated with dye, zinc oxide was recovered and the carbon quantum dots were added to the recovered zinc oxide. The maximum removal percentage of Congo red pollutant (97.39%) was achieved at pH of 6, 50 °C, 30 minutes, and initial 30 ppm of dye concentration. After five times of recovery of the oxide substrate, the dye removal percentage decreased from 88.58 to 67.41%. Determining the concentration of Congo red remaining after adsorption by UV-Vis spectroscopy showed that the two-components composite of zinc oxide and carbon quantum dots could be used for effective removal of the Congo red pollutant from the wastewater of textile units.
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