Green synthesis of ZnO and NiO nanoparticles for degradation of Basic Brilliant Flavine Y-40 Dye: A Sustainable Environmental Cleaner Approach

The elimination of artificial dyes has become imperative due to their detrimental environmental impact. The present study presents a green synthesis methodology for synthesizing nickel oxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles (NPs) using an aqueous extract of Prunus armeniaca leaves as a stabilizing and reducing agent. This approach is characterized by its non-toxic and eco-friendly nature. The ZnO/NiO nanoparticle mixture exhibited superior photocatalytic performance compared to pristine ZnO and NiO due to the synergistic combination of ZnO and NiO at the nanoparticle mixture interface, which promotes spatial separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and suppresses charge recombination. The synthesized NPs were characterized through UV-Visible, FTIR, SEM, Zeta, NTA, and XRD analyses and were subsequently optimized for the remediation of Basic Brilliant Flavine Y-40 dye. The dye degradation study was carried out after optimizing the parameters such as dye concentration, nanoparticle concentration, pH, H 2 O 2 concentration, and temperature. The highest level was observed with a dye concentration of 0.001%, a nanoparticle mixture ratio of 1:2 (ZnO: NiO), at 40℃, pH 6, and an H 2 O 2 concentration of 0.003 mM. The treated and untreated dye samples were used to assess water quality parameters. The results indicate reductions in COD and TOC levels of 87.6% and 85.3%, respectively, in the treated samples, compared to the untreated samples, and the toxicity assessment demonstrated 0.14% (ZnO) and 0.28% (NiO) hemolysis. The results were recorded three times for spectral analysis and subsequently subjected to statistical analysis.