ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the biosynthesis of selenium (Se) nanoparticles and their impregnation as co-catalyst on ZnO to prepare Se-ZnO nano-catalyst for studying its photocatlytic activity. Commercially available ZnO was mixed with distilled water under continuous stirring. The Se-ZnO nanocomposites (NCs) were recovered through centrifugation and further washed three times with distilled water. The nanocomposite was dried and crushed into fine powder. The potential of biosynthesized Se-ZnO was tested against the photocatalytic degradation of recalcitrant compound 4-chloroguaiacol (4-CG) and real pharmaceutical industry effluent under sunlight irradiation. The effect of photocatalyst on different concentrations of model compound was also evaluated. Diverse characterization techniques viz., UV-visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, x-ray diffraction, SEM, and HR-transmission electron microscope were used to characterize the nanoparticles as well as the degradation profile of 4-CG. Application of synthesized NCs in photocatalytic degradation of 4-CG demonstrated significant levels of degradation under solar photocatalytic conditions.
