Proposed Industrial Scale Setup for Production of ZnO Nanoparticles Using Wet Chemical Synthesis Method

Abstract

In this study, an industrial method is provided for the synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles by a simple and economical wet chemical precipitation reaction between Zinc Chloride (ZnCl2) and Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) at low temperatures less than 80 °C. In first step, Small quantity of ZnO powder is produced in laboratory scale. As-synthesized lab-scale ZnO powders were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Orthogonal experiments were performed to find out the optimal conditions for the maximum yield of ZnO powder. In second step, the process flow diagram (PFD), material & energy balance and design of reactor were done on the basis of lab-scale data. Overall, this research work proposes that ZnO powder can be manufactured easy and economical method which can be used for various branches of industry: rubber, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, textile, electronic etc.