INSIGHTS INTO GREEN SYNTHESIS OF CLINOPTILOLITE SUPPORTED IRON NANOPARTICLES NITRATE REMOVAL FROM AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

This study reports the synthesis of plant mediated iron nanoparticles using clinoptilolite, a natural clay, as the supporting material. Various iron/clinop-tilolite mass ratios as well as iron/extract volumetric ratios have been investigated in 9 different composites (C/G-nZVI). The composites were characterized using SEM, BET, XRD, XPS and FT-IR. The optimum synthesis ratio was found to be 1/1 (V/V) iron precursor/green tea extract on 2 g of clinoptilo-lite for the most stable and effective composite. The nanocomposite was used for removal for nitrate from an automotive industry wastewater. Batch removal tests were conducted with 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, and 5.0 g of nanocomposite samples for 120 min at an initial pH of 4.4. The results showed that the removal percent of NO3--N with the optimized composite was 94%.