Synthesis and characterization of cobalt doped zinc oxide nanoparticles and their application for catalytic reduction of methylene blue dye

Abstract

The co-precipitation approach has been used in the current research work to synthesize cobalt-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) employing zinc and cobalt nitrate hexahydrate as precursor salts. Ultraviolet-visible spectra and Fourier transform infrared were used to confirm that the manufacturing procedure was efficient and that the synthesized sample contained a range of unique binding sites. The catalytic efficacy of the prepared nanoparticles for the reduction of Methylene blue dye in the presence of NaBH4 as a reducing agent has been investigated. The concentration of methylene blue, the catalyst dose, and the concentration of sodium borohydride all play significant roles in the catalytic reduction of methylene blue (MB). The best result for the complete reduction of methylene blue was obtained in 14 min of reaction time. Catalytic reduction of methylene blue in the involvement of synthesized nanoparticles was found to be followed by the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. Concerning this process, the reduction reaction is affected by the quantity of methylene blue, catalyst, and sodium borohydride. This effective catalytic activity of Co-doped ZnO nanoparticles suggests that these NPs can work wonders as nano-catalysts for the reduction of hazardous dyes.