Ultra fast and effective treatment of dyes from water with the synergistic effect of Ni doped ZnO nanoparticles and ultrasonication

• Ni-ZnO NPs are prepared by using simple cost effective chemical precipitation method.
• Synergistic effect of ultrasonication and Ni-ZnO NPs proved effective for the removal of dyes.
• Almost complete degradation of dyes was achieved in just 5 min.
• Very high kinetic constant has been obtained for both the dyes.
• Ni-ZnO NPs have been successfully recovered and reused.

The current research work focuses on the synergistic effect of Ni doped ZnO nanoparticles and ultrasonication for the degradation of anionic (Fast Green) and cationic (Victoria Blue) dyes. Well crystalline monodispersed Ni doped ZnO nanoparticles have been synthesized by quick and simple co-precipitation technique at low temperature. Synthesized nanoparticles have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV–vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The effects of operating parameters such as catalyst dosage, pH, power dissipation, temperature and dye initial concentration have been investigated, and the enhancement in degradation capability of Ni doped ZnO with undoped ZnO has also been discussed. The degradation of both the dyes follows pseudo-first-order kinetics. In concert with superior activity and reuse performance, the current route is promising for the application of ZnO-based catalysis for water decontamination.