POROUS NANOSTRUCTURED METAL OXIDES FOR - ADSORPTION APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Homogenous precipitation, so 1-gel method, solid-state decomposition and co-precipitation -. synthetic routes were utilized for the synthesis of nano metal oxides oiZnO and TiO2 with varying morphology. Powder X-ray diffraction method (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scannin(y electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA), U V-Visible Absorption spectroscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), surface area analysis (BE1'), zeta potential studies using zeta-sizer were employed to characterize the adsorbents. The mechanism of adsorption was evaluated using various adsorption isotherm and kinetic models and easy regeneration of adsorbents without any significant compromise on the adsorption efficiency make them ideal adsorbents for scale up to industrial use. Model pollutants like methylene blue and Pb2 heavy metal ions were used to study the adsorption efficiency. Excellent adsorption capacity (mg/g) was observed for '1102 nanoparticles (96%) for the adsorption of methylene blue and ZnO (99%) hierarchical flower-like nanostructures and nanorods for the adsorption of Pb (11).