The Removal of Methylene Blue from Aqueous Solution Using Prepared ZSM-5 Zeolite@ZnO Nanoflowers under LED Irradiation

In this research, the photocatalytic removal of Methylene Blue (MB) dye was investigated using ZSM-5@ZnO nanoflowers. Facile synthesis of ZSM-5@ZnO nanoparticles was performed using a sol-gel procedure. Moreover, crystal structure, functional groups, and morphology of the synthesized nanoparticles were confirmed by applying X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) approaches. Experiments on the initial concentration of MB, catalyst dosage, pH of the medium, light source power, amount of H2O2, and kinetic studies were carried out to achieve the maximum amount of MB removal. The highest removal rate of MB dye was achieved under optimum circumstances, i.e., dye concentration of 5 mg/L, pH of 9, 0.2 ml of H2O2, 50 mg of ZSM-5@ZnO nanocatalyst dosage, and 120 min under 50 W light-emitting diode (LED) lamp irradiation. Regarding the mentioned conditions, the maximum dye removal rate was 94.09%. The Kinetic study also expresses that the removal process follows the first-order model with the equation y=0.024x, R2=0.985, and AARD = 4.269%. Besides, the optimal time for the photocatalytic removal process is 120 min. Notably, the reusability of the nanocatalyst during 5 cycles was promising, and only 4.59% of dye removal efficiency decreased.