Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles and its application in photocatalytic degradation of LABS by the trial-and-error and Taguchi methods

In the work ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by sol-gel method. The catalyst was characterized by X-ray powder diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The photocatalytic oxidation of anionic surfactant in detergent industries was studied using ZnO nanoparticles with diameter size 20 nm as catalyst on irradiation with UV light. Analysis of kinetic showed that the amount of surfactant photocatalytic degradation can be fitted with pseudo-first-order model and studied photochemical elimination of Linear alkyl benzene sulfonates by the trial-and-error and Taguchi methods. Our experimental design consisted of testing five factors, i.e. dosage of K₂S₂O₈, concentration of surfactant, amount of ZnO, irradiation time, and initial pH. The results showed that photocatalytic degradation of linear alkyl benzene sulfonates was strongly influenced by these parameters.