Synthesis, characterization and application of zinc oxide nano particles for removal of hexavalent chromium

The present study was conducted to evaluate the adsorption efficiency of synthesized nano zinc oxide (n-ZnO) for the removal of hexavalent chromium (Cr6+). The synthesized sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Batch experiment results revealed that low dose (4 g L-1) of n-ZnO was highly efficient at the initial metal concentration of 9 mg L-1 in acidic conditions (pH 2) at 50 A degrees C for the contact time of 90 min. A Langmuir adsorption isotherm model was found to be best fitted indicating a homogeneous surface and the adsorption followed pseudo-second order kinetics. Intra-particle diffusion was not a rate limiting factor in the present study. Thermodynamic study revealed that the adsorption process was endothermic and spontaneous at all the studied temperatures with increasing randomness.