Effective degradation and mineralization of real textile effluent by sonolysis, photocatalysis, and sonophotocatalysis using ZnO nano catalyst

In this study, the ultrasonic, photocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic degradation of organics in textile industrial effluent was studied using ZnO nano catalyst, ZnO nano catalyst was synthesized by using sol-gel method. The structure and morphology of the catalyst were investigated using scanning election microscopy (SEM), electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD). The percentage removal of textile influents was determined by using TOC.  The effects of various operational parameters such as, contact time, catalyst loading, and solution pH on the degradation efficiency were studied. The increase in degradation efficiency with the increase in catalyst loading, contact time. Neutral pH is suitable for degradation of textile industrial effluents, and comparative study shows that the sonophotocatalyst is effective for degradation technique than ultrasonic and photocatalytic degradation of textile industrial effluent.