Synthesis and characterisation ZnO/TiO2 incorporated activated carbon as photocatalyst for gas refinery effluent treatment

Abstract

This study aims to optimize the ZnO/TiO2-Active carbon (AC) catalyst for utilized in the degradation of gas refinery effluent (GRE) treatment under sunlight via photocatalytic process. The incorporation of AC into ZnO/TiO2 has enhanced process efficiency and quality, resulting in heightened productivity, during GRE purification. The ZnO/TiO2-AC photocatalyst, synthesized, underwent analysis using various instruments, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), porosity analysis using BET (Brunauer Emmett Teller), and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR). The experimental data were assessed to generate empirical models for analyzing on individual responses. The fitted models were statistically examined, considerably validated (via analysis of variance (ANOVA)). In the GRE treatment process, the central composite design (CCD) method was chosen to design a number of experiments. The optimal conditions for this process were determined to be a photocatalyst dosage of 0.17 g, and a sunlight exposure time of 80 min. The system's best response for GRE degradation was predicted to be 97.3 %. Overall, our findings prove that the optimized ZnO/TiO2-AC catalyst is a prominent and effective material for GRE treatment through photocatalytic process under sunlight. The method used in this research can be used as an efficient technology for solar photocatalytic degradation of discharged gas refinery effluent under the climatic conditions of most countries.