Chiang Mai Journal of Science

Nanotechnology is gaining popularity due to its multi applications in various applied fields like textile industry. The green synthesis of metal or metal oxide nanoparticles is an eco-friendly, stable, simple, rapid and cost-effective approach. In the current study, fruit peels extract of Punica granatum (Pomegranate) were utilized for the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs). The synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles were characterized by different spectro-analytical techniques like SEM, XRD, FTIR etc. The particle size of ZnO nanoparticles was found to be 39-40 nm. Optimized conditions for the preparation of zinc oxide nanoparticles were found to be temperature 80 °C, pH 9, reactant ratio 1:5 and 80 minutes contact time. The ZnO nanoparticles were employed for the remediation of Acid Blue A dye following the optimization of experimental parameters like dye concentration (Acid Blue A), ZnO nanoparticles concentration, pH, dose of H2O2 and temperature. The Acid Blue A dye was 87% decolorized at 0.04 % dye concentration, 3 mg ZnO nanoparticles concentration, pH 6, 0.4 M H₂O₂ at 40 °C. Dye treated sample was subjected to chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) measurements. The COD and TOC values were found to be 90 % and 89.34 %, respectively. It can be concluded that synthesized ZnO nanoparticles successively degraded our targeted dye. These synthesized ZnO nanoparticles could be applied for the detoxification of other toxic dyes as well.