Recovery of ZnO nanoparticles from spent Zn-C batteries and their application in the degradation of methyl orange dye

Abstract

Zinc Oxide nanoparticles are recovered from spent Zn-C batteries using Cyphos IL 102 by liquid-liquid extraction technique. The synthesized nanomaterials were characterized in terms of their morphological, compositional, optical and photocatalytic properties. Synthesized ZnO nanoparticles have been used for the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange dye under UV irradiation. Various parameters have been studied such as effect of irradiation time, dye concentration, catalyst dose, and effect of pH on the percentage degradation of methyl orange. The degradation studies exhibited 82.2% degradation of methyl orange within 180 min under UV irradiation.