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Fast and non-selective photodegradation of basic yellow 28, malachite green, tetracycline, and sulfamethazine using a nanosized ZnO synthesized from zinc ore

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Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the photocatalytic process for treating polluted solutions charged with organic matter using a nanosized zinc oxide catalyst. In this approach, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), were successfully synthesized by hydrometallurgical process starting from zinc ore. The prepared catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction, cell parameters were refined by Rietveld method, and specific surface area measurements were performed using the BET method. Microstructure of the synthesized ZnO was carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with EDX analysis, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). According to BET analysis, ZnO has a very high specific surface area of around 74 m2/g. TEM analysis confirms the nanometric size of the ZnO prepared with values of around 90 nm. The photocatalytic results revealed that ZnO NPs are extremely effective and non-selective for degrading the four organic contaminants studied: two pharmaceutical pollutants, sulfamethazine and tetracycline, and two dyes, basic yellow 28 and malachite green. Hence, the obtained results show that degradation efficiency achieves 100% in 30 min under UV irradiation. Compared to previously published works, the synthesized ZnO NPs show high photodegradation efficiency towards the studied molecules.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de recherche REMINEX- Groupe MANAGEM, Site de Hajar, BP 469, Marrakech, Morocco

    Mohamed Belghiti, Karim Tanji, Isam Lamsayety, Khalid Ouzaouit, Hakim Faqir & Intissar Benzakour

  2. Laboratoire des nanomatériaux, l’énergie et l’environnement, Faculté des Sciences Semlalia, Université Cadi Ayyad, BP 2390, 40000, Marrakech, Morocco

    Mohamed Belghiti & Abdelkader Outzourhit

  3. Laboratoire de Chimie Analytique et Moléculaire, Faculté Polydisciplinaire de Safi, Université Cadi Ayyad, Safi, Morocco

    Lekbira El Mersly & Salah Rafqah

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  1. Mohamed Belghiti
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Belghiti, M., Tanji, K., El Mersly, L. et al. Fast and non-selective photodegradation of basic yellow 28, malachite green, tetracycline, and sulfamethazine using a nanosized ZnO synthesized from zinc ore. Reac Kinet Mech Cat 135, 2265–2278 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11144-022-02232-8

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