Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticle from Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) dust prepared by hydrothermal method via hydroxide precipitation

Abstract

Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) dust is a type of metallurgical solid waste that is produced as a by-product of steel manufacturing and contains important metals such as zinc (Zn). Processing Zn from EAF dust into metal oxides such as zinc oxide (ZnO) is critical for a variety of applications. The hydrothermal technique of extracting Zn from EAF dust uses hydrochloric acid (HCl) as a leaching agent and sodium oxide (NaOH) as a precipitating reagent. In this study, the process begins with leaching using HCl 3 M at a temperature of 80 °C for 5 hours. The product is then filtered to separate the Zn and other components in the EAF dust. The method is then continuing for precipitation using NaOH 10% as a precipitating agent. Then, initiating the hydrothermal process with time variations of 1, 3, and 6 hours and temperatures of 120 °C, 150 °C, and 200 °C. The UV-Vis characterization result showed that the absorbance value was around 365 nm, which is typical of ZnO. The XRF analysis demonstrated an increase in the presence of ZnO compound. The XRD results showed that as the hydrothermal temperature and duration increased, so did the crystallinity in ZnO. The results shown that ZnO nanoparticles can be prepared from EAF dust as a raw material using the hydrothermal technique via hydroxide precipitation.