HIGHLY EFFICIENT ONION PEEL ASH CATALYST FOR DEGRADATION OF METHYLENE BLUE

Abstract

Methylene blue is a dye commonly used by the textile industry. However, its presence in textile effluent poses significant risks to human health and water resources. Various environmental technologies have been developed to remove this refractory pollutant from contaminated effluent. However, those techniques have limitations, such as high operational costs and use of unsustainable resources. In this study, the efficacy of an ash catalyst derived from household waste, namely onion peel waste, for degrading methylene blue was evaluated. Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy analysis revealed the presence of magnesium oxide, MgO, (528.00 ± 40.00 ppb) as one of primary elements in onion peel ash, crucial for methylene blue degradation. Additionally, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis identified an absorption band at around 871 cm-1, indicating the presence of MgO in the onion peel ash. The findings revealed that onion peel ash degraded methylene blue with a 84% (0.00616 min−1) degradation rate under sunlight and 95% (0.00578 min−1) degradation rate under UV-lamp exposure. This research suggests that onion peel ash holds promise for effectively degrading methylene blue in textile effluents, offering a sustainable solution for addressing environmental concerns associated with textile dye pollution.