Reduction of Methylene Blue Using Silica Nanoparticles Obtained from Waste ZrC

Abstract

The study conducted an extraction of pure amorphous nano-silica (SiO2 NP) from waste product at the ZrC factory. Various techniques such as TEM, SEM-EDX, ICP, XRD, FTIR, BET, and DLS were utilized to synthesize and characterize the silica nanoparticle. The results showed successful production of pure amorphous silica, with no discernible difference in purity percentage between samples prepared with or without acidic pre-treatment. It was found that the leaching temperature, process time, and reactant ratio all played a role in the production of nano-silica. The ideal leaching temperature was determined to be 368 K, with an optimal process time of 2 h. The weight ratio of WPZF/NaOH that yielded the highest percentage of silica extraction was 9 : 10. Additionally, at pH 7, the nano-silica exhibited the best specific surface area (BET) of 472.51 m2/g. The average size of the spherical nano-silica, as determined by DLS, was approximately 38 nm. Furthermore, the produced nano-silica was found to be an effective catalyst for the treatment of methylene blue (MB). MB could be degraded by more than 99 % of the initial concertation (10 mg/L) in the presence of NaBH4 within 16 min and rate constant of the catalytic reduction achieved as 0.134 min−1. These findings demonstrate the potential of amorphous nano-silica as a valuable resource in various applications.