Synthesis and characterization Agar/GO/ZnO NPs nanocomposite for removal of methylene blue and methyl orange as azo dyes from food industrial effluents

Herein, with using graphene oxide (GO), agar and ZnO NPs was synthesized as nanocomposite to removal of dyes contaminants from food industry effluents. Synthesis and characterization of the nanocomposite adsorbent were carried out by FTIR, XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, EDX and DLS analyses. The effects of various parameters such as pH, initial dye concentration, contact time and temperature on the removal of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) as azo dyes were investigated. The used nanocomposite can be effective in the adsorption of dyes due to their different functional groups. The Freundlich and Langmuir models were used to investigate the isotherm of contaminants removal. The results showed that the removal of methylene blue and methyl orange dyes followed the Freundlich isotherm, and the values of the R2 correlation coefficient for agar/GO, and agar/ GO/ZnO nanocomposites for MB dye was 0.9640 and 0.9977, respectively, and for dye MO, 0.9918 and 0.9683, respectively. The maximum removal percentages for MB and MO dyes were 88% and 91%, respectively.

Automated summary

In this study, a nanocomposite consisting of graphene oxide (GO), agar, and ZnO nanoparticles was successfully synthesized for the removal of dye contaminants from food industry effluents. The nanocomposite showed effective adsorption of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) due to their different functional groups. The Freundlich and Langmuir models were used to analyze the isotherm of contaminants removal and the results indicated high removal percentages for both dyes.