Photocatalytic Degradation of Remazol Black B (RBB) Using ZnO/Zeolite and Its Application to Textile Wastewater

Rahmadhani Khairul Baryah; Zilfa Zilfa; Alpan Sofyan Tanjung; Tio Putra Wendari

doi:10.15826/chimtech.10273

Photocatalytic Degradation of Remazol Black B (RBB) Using ZnO/Zeolite and Its Application to Textile Wastewater

Rahmadhani Khairul Baryah, Zilfa Zilfa, Alpan Sofyan Tanjung, Tio Putra Wendari

Abstract

The presence of Remazol Black B (RBB) in water has a negative impact on the environment and living organisms. Photodegradation using ZnO/zeolite is a promising approach for reducing RBB concentration through photocatalytic transformation. This study aims to synthesize ZnO/zeolite composites and evaluate their photocatalytic performance in degrading RBB in both synthetic samples and real textile wastewater. Structural characterization using FTIR, XRD, and SEM-EDX confirmed the successful incorporation of ZnO into the zeolite matrix and the zeolite framework was successfully preserved during the synthesis process. Subsequently, a catalyst dose of 1.0 g and a solution volume of 10 mL were determined using the 30-minute irradiation time as a reference condition, rather than as the overall optimum. Under these conditions, the ZnO/zeolite composite achieved a degradation rate of 98.16% and outperformed both zeolite and ZnO alone. Furthermore, the degradation kinetics of RBB using the ZnO/zeolite composite followed a pseudo-first-order kinetic model with a pseudo-rate constant of 0.0592 min^-1. However, when applied to actual textile wastewater, the degradation efficiency decreased to 32.08%, indicating the influence of the complex wastewater matrix on photocatalytic performance. These findings indicate that the high photocatalytic activity in model solutions does not always reflect real wastewater performance due to its diverse chemical composition.

Keywords

ZnO/zeolite; Remazol Black B; Reactive azo dye; photocatalytic degradation; textile wastewater

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15826/chimtech.10273

Copyright (c) 2026 Rahmadhani Khairul Baryah, Zilfa, Alpan Sofyan Tanjung, Tio Putra Wendari

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