Enhancement of Methylene Blue Adsorption from ZnO/Activated Carbon Nanocompossites Prepared by Pyrolysis of Molten ZnCl2 with Rice Husks

Abstract

In this work, we synthesized a facile step pyrolysis of ZnO/activated carbon nanocomposites by using molten ZnCl2 and rice husks in oxygen-limited environment. The mass ratio of molten ZnCl2 and rice husks was chosen from 0 to 5 wt.%, the pyrolysis temperature range from 400 to 800 oC. When the mass ratio of molten ZnCl2 and rice husks was equal to 1.0 and the pyrolysis temperature was at 800 oC, the size of ZnO nanoparticles in diameter was found to be of 10-20 nm. The ZnO/activated carbon nanocomposites exhibited a porous structure with the BET surface area, average pore diameter and pore volume of 643.9 m2/g, 4,76 nm and 0.255 cm3/g, respectively. To investigate the adsorption behavior of methylene blue, batch experiments were performed on all samples. The ZnO/activated carbon sample manufactured at a mass ratio of 1.0 and a pyrolysis temperature of 800 oC has the best methylene blue adsorption capability. The Langmuir isotherm was used to calculate the maximum adsorption capacity of methylene blue, which was 814.9 mg/g. Based on the obtained results, one can suggest that ZnO/activated carbon nanocomposites prepared by the facile pyrolysis route from molten ZnCl2 and rice husks possessing eco-friendly behaviour and low productioncost can be used as a potential adsorbent for wastewater treatment.