Paper Title
CATALYTIC OXIDATIVE DEGRADATION OF CRYSTAL VIOLET USING COPPER OXIDE ENCAPSULATED ZEOLITE CATALYST FROM COAL FLY ASH

Abstract
Abstract - Water contamination caused by colours/dyes from many industries, including textile, paper and pulp, tannery, dye and dye intermediary, and Kraft bleaching, is a severe issue for wealthy nations and preventing water pollution is the central focus of research today. One of the most effective and affordable alternatives to combat harmful dyes is semiconductor-based AOPs. In photocatalytic reactions, AOPs have the ability to use the entire solar spectrum. Wet catalysis involving environmentally benign oxidants like H2O2, peroxo mono and disulphates, etc., is a green method and is also an efficient advanced oxidation process (AOP) for the degradation of organic contaminants in wastewater In the present study, a new active zeolite supported copper catalyst was developed from coal fly ash (FA) by immobilization of copper nanoparticles to degrade the toxic dyes. Zeolite (Zeo) was synthesized from FA by acid and hydrothermal treatment. The metal salt CuCl2 was reduced to copper nanoparticle by using (nithyakalyani) Catharanthus roseus leaf extract. The formed copper nanoparticle was encapsulated into the zeolite framework by mechanical stirring followed by calcination at 550ºC, as a result CuO-Zeo catalyst was prepared. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) techniques. Catalytic activity of the synthesized CuO-Zeo material was investigated by monitoring the degradation of crystal violet dye in the presence of H2O2. The effect of catalyst dosage, catalyst variation, dye concentration, volume of H2O2 and pH were studied. It was observed that the catalytic activity of bare Zeolite is negligible and is enhanced by copper encapsulation and also the efficiency (95%) of the catalyst is tested. The work highlights the design and development of green catalyst from waste material FA for the degradation of toxic dye. Keywords - Fly Ash; Zeolite; Nithyakalyani Leaves; Wet Catalysis; Crystal Violet Dye