Modeling and kinetic study of furfural degradation through the chemical surface modification of zinc oxide nanoparticles by magnesium

•ZnO-Mg nano photocatalyst was synthesized by solvent combustion.•Application of the photocatalyst for furfural degradation has been evaluated.•The average particle size is 60 nm and the energy band is 3.02 electron-volts.•Maximum Furfural elimination achieved at 0.1 g/L photocatalyst and pH = 5.•Langmuir-Hinshelwood describes the process with the pseudo-first-order kinetics. In this research, a ZnO-Mg nano photocatalyst was synthesized by solvent combustion using microwave waves, and its efficiency and application in the removal of furfural were evaluated. The synthesized nano photocatalyst was characterized by XRD, FESEM, EDX, MAP, and band gap techniques, which showed that crystalline nanocomposite particles were synthesized uniformly. Also, the average particle size of the syntheses is 60 nm, and the photocatalyst energy band is 3.02 electron-volts. The removal of furfural pollutants was maximized using UV irradiation at 0.1 g/L photocatalyst and pH = 5 conditions. Under optimal conditions, furfural degradation analysis by mass chromatography showed that the photocatalytic process is an effective method for removing the pollutant. Also, modeling and kinetic studies showed that this process follows the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model and the pseudo-first-order kinetics; it also shows quadratic mathematical model.