Synthesis and photocatalytic properties of zinc-copper bimetallic oxide nanoparticles for removal of reactive blue 19 dye in aqueous suspension

ABSTRACT

This research investigates the photocatalytic removal of reactive blue 19 (RB19) dye utilising Zn-Cu (zinc-copper) bimetallic oxide nanocatalysts under UV irradiation. The nanocatalysts were prepared via the co-precipitation technique and thoroughly characterised using different procedures including XRD, FTIR, BET-BJH, FESEM, TEM, and EDX. BET-BJH analysis revealed a specific surface area of 59.774 m²/g for the Zn-Cu bimetallic oxide nanocatalyst. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimise operational factors such as catalyst amount, pH, H₂O₂ amount, and UV power, with a quadratic model showing high reliability (R² = 0.89). Under optimal conditions (4 mg catalyst amount, pH 6.68, 0.42 mL H₂O₂ dose, 23 W UV power, and 45 min reaction time), the maximum RB19 removal reached 77.14%, increasing to 98.33% after 120 min. The kinetic study revealed a reaction rate constant of 0.884 min⁻¹, indicating efficient removal. Zn-Cu bimetallic oxides demonstrated superior RB19 removal capacity, with only a 5.92% reduction in removal yield after 5 consecutive reuse cycles. This study underscores the potential of Zn-Cu bimetallic oxide nanocatalysts for efficient removal of RB19 dye in suspension media.

KEYWORDS:

• Photocatalytic
• Zn-Cu bimetallic oxide nanoparticles
• reactive blue 19
• optimization
• kinetic

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thanks the University of Ilam, for the award research fellowship.

Authors’ contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Basir Maleki,Abrar Ghassan Abdulhasan, Tahseen HameedKhlaif and Mohsen Mansouri. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Basir Malekiand all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript.

Consent for publication

All authors read and approved the final manuscript. All authors are fully aware of this manuscript and have permission to submit the manuscript for possible publication.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.