removal of styrene by the synthesized zno nanoparticles coated on the activated carbon adsorbent in the presence of uv irradiation

Background: volatile organic compounds are the major environmental pollutants causing adverse effects on the human health and the environment, therefore, tremendous effort has been put toward eliminating these compounds. methods: in this study, the effect of synthesized nanoparticles on the removal of styrene from gas phase by photocatalytic process under uv irradiation in the cylindrical photoreactor was studied. the activated carbon-zinc oxide (ac-zno) catalysts were prepared at different weight ratios (6%, 12%, and 18%) of zno. the prepared catalyst was characterized using x-ray diffraction (xrd), field emission scanning electron microscopy (fesem), and brunauer-emmett-teller (bet) analyses. the effects of various parameters, such as concentrations of styrene, various weight percentage (wt%) of nanoparticles, and uv irradiation, were investigated. the efficiency of the ac-zno catalyst was determined based on its adsorption capacity, breakthrough time, and removal efficiency. results: it was revealed that the photocatalytic removal efficiency of styrene was high in the presence of both zno nanoparticle and ac under uv light. under optimal conditions, the efficiency of uv/aczno 18%, uv/ac-zno 12%, and uv/ac-zno 6% catalysts was 77%, 86%, and 83%, respectively. by increasing the concentration of input styrene, the photocatalytic removal efficiency was reduced, while the adsorption capacity of styrene increased. conclusion: according to the results, the ac-zno 12% exhibited higher activity compared to other photocatalysts. also, the amount of stabilized zno nanoparticles on the activated carbon affects the elimination rate of styrene.