Degradation of wastewater by Advanced Oxidation Processes using green synthesised CuO nanoparticles

This study highlights the green synthesis of CuO nanoparticles using coconut coir extract and evaluates their photocatalytic performance in the degradation of the Brown G dye. The CuO nano-particles were synthesised through sol-gel method, and the biomolecules like polyphenols, tannins and flavonoids acted as reducing agents to stabilise the nanoparticles. The characterisation of these nanoparticles was carried out through XRD, FTIR and FESEM methods. The nanoparticles were used to degrade the dye Brown G under UV irradiation. Response surface methodology was used to optimise the operating parameter with Box-Behnken design, which is the most suitable for varying 3 or more parameters. The parameters varied in this experiment were temperature, catalyst loading and pH. The maximum dye degradation of 80.01% was achieved under the optimised conditions of pH 7, temperature 33.5℃ and at 17.5 mg of CuO catalyst. The kinetic studies of experimental data indicate that the degradation follows a first-order reaction. The results show that the green-synthesised CuO nanoparticles are an effective photocatalyst for treating dye wastewater.