Detection of 4-nitrophenol in wastewater using microstructures of various morphologies

In the present study, zinc-oxides with three different morphologies were synthesized by the hydrothermal method. The products synthesized were examined adopting the EDX under the SEM, XRD, FT-IR and BET. The BET analysis results showed that the surface area of the ZnO-2 microparticles was substantially higher compared to the previously published[1,2]. These characterized zinc-oxides were evaluated for their catalytic role in the reduction of 4-NP to 4-AP, which is released into nature with wastewaters as a result of industrial production and poses a threat to the environment and living organisms. A change was also observed in the reduction efficiency of 4-NP to 4-AP by changing the morphology and surface area of the zinc-oxide microparticles. According to the BET analysis result, the rate constant for the reduction reaction of 4-NP was found to be 4.5 x 10 -3 s -1 in the presence of the ZnO-2 catalyst in the microsheet-structure with the largest surface area, while the recycling was found to be 97.49%. ZnO-2 exhibits excellent catalytic performance, better than the others. As a result, it was revealed that the increase in the surface area of the ZnO microparticles had a positive effect on the catalytic performance. The present study is a guiding study for wastewater treatment applications.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.