Green-Synthesized ZnO Nanoparticles on Bio-Activated Carbon from Robusta Coffee Husk for Efficient Photodegradation of Chlorophenoxy Herbicide

Green-Synthesized ZnO Nanoparticles on Bio-Activated Carbon from Robusta Coffee Husk for Efficient Photodegradation of Chlorophenoxy Herbicide | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Green-Synthesized ZnO Nanoparticles on Bio-Activated Carbon from Robusta Coffee Husk for Efficient Photodegradation of Chlorophenoxy Herbicide Hoai Phuong Nguyen Thi, Anh Thu Nguyen Thi, Minh Chau Vu, Minh Thanh Nguyen, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6555352/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract ZnO's photocatalytic properties make it a widely used semiconductor, while bio-activated carbon (BAC) from agricultural waste is emerging as a sustainable and cost-effective photocatalyst substrate. This study explored the creation and characterization of a nano ZnO/bio-activated carbon (ZnO/BAC) composite from coffee husks, aimed at efficiently degrading Rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated sunlight. The bio-activated carbon (BAC) was produced by carbonizing coffee husks at 900°C in an argon atmosphere and activating with hydrochloric acid (HCl), resulting in a BET surface area of 842.48 m²/g and a pore volume of 0.403 cm³/g after 24 hours. ZnO nanoparticles, sized between 20 to 100 nm, were deposited on the BAC, confirmed by XRD, FTIR, and EDX, which showed a hexagonal wurtzite structure with crystallite size around 10 nm. UV-Vis DRS analysis indicated strong ZnO absorption below 400 nm, enhancing photocatalytic performance. 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) degradation was most effective at 10 mg/L, with an optimal ZnO/BAC dosage of 1.00 to 1.25 g/L. The process followed pseudo-first-order kinetics (k₁ = 0.02881 min⁻¹, R² = 0.9791), achieving 98.94% removal in 240 minutes, particularly rapid in the first 30 minutes. The composite also showed good reusability, retaining over 86% efficiency after seven cycles. These results highlight ZnO/BAC as a promising sustainable photocatalyst for dye removal in wastewater treatment. ZnO nanoparticles Bio-activated carbon Photocatalysis Herbicide degradation Robusta coffee husk Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 02 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 30 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 26 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 09 May, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 09 May, 2025 First submitted to journal 29 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6555352","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":476773327,"identity":"12384e4f-b3c3-4b5b-b56a-2725fbb679f3","order_by":0,"name":"Hoai Phuong Nguyen Thi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Joint Vietnam-Russia Tropical Science and Technology Research Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hoai","middleName":"Phuong Nguyen","lastName":"Thi","suffix":""},{"id":476773328,"identity":"fb310c47-4296-4d0c-8f22-ca5409b67f84","order_by":1,"name":"Anh Thu Nguyen 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This study explored the creation and characterization of a nano ZnO/bio-activated carbon (ZnO/BAC) composite from coffee husks, aimed at efficiently degrading Rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated sunlight. The bio-activated carbon (BAC) was produced by carbonizing coffee husks at 900\u0026deg;C in an argon atmosphere and activating with hydrochloric acid (HCl), resulting in a BET surface area of 842.48 m\u0026sup2;/g and a pore volume of 0.403 cm\u0026sup3;/g after 24 hours. ZnO nanoparticles, sized between 20 to 100 nm, were deposited on the BAC, confirmed by XRD, FTIR, and EDX, which showed a hexagonal wurtzite structure with crystallite size around 10 nm. UV-Vis DRS analysis indicated strong ZnO absorption below 400 nm, enhancing photocatalytic performance. 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) degradation was most effective at 10 mg/L, with an optimal ZnO/BAC dosage of 1.00 to 1.25 g/L. The process followed pseudo-first-order kinetics (k₁ = 0.02881 min⁻\u0026sup1;, R\u0026sup2; = 0.9791), achieving 98.94% removal in 240 minutes, particularly rapid in the first 30 minutes. The composite also showed good reusability, retaining over 86% efficiency after seven cycles. These results highlight ZnO/BAC as a promising sustainable photocatalyst for dye removal in wastewater treatment.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Green-Synthesized ZnO Nanoparticles on Bio-Activated Carbon from Robusta Coffee Husk for Efficient Photodegradation of Chlorophenoxy Herbicide","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-06-30 13:50:05","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6555352/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-07-02T14:36:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-06-30T17:54:02+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"56814467346170868384128903854355532630","date":"2025-06-26T09:30:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-06-26T09:25:45+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-05-09T12:51:20+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-05-09T11:51:42+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BioNanoScience","date":"2025-04-29T10:17:32+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bionanoscience","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"bnsc","sideBox":"Learn more about [BioNanoScience](http://link.springer.com/journal/12668)","snPcode":"12668","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/12668/3","title":"BioNanoScience","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"4282f92e-9e4d-4580-b02a-09ff6c7008f1","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 30th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-07-30T09:23:59+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-06-30 13:50:05","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6555352","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6555352","identity":"rs-6555352","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}