Zahra Ghasemi Laleh Vajeh Sari - Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Natural Resources & Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University,
Habibollah Younesi - Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Natural Resources & Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University,
Ghasem Najafpour - Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Industrial University of Noushirvani, Babol, Iran
Ali Akbar Zinatizadeh Lorestani - Material and Energy Research Center,

Green technology or use of environmentally friendly chemical process is now gaining popularity because of the demand from the conscientious consumers and strict environmental regulations. In this paper, nanozeolite ZSM-5 synthesized from raw rice husk silica was investigated. Resulted silica from rice husk ash (white ash) was combined with other components forming zeolite under hydrothermal conditions. The resulted zeolite was characterized with different techniques, i.e SEM to study the morphology as well as the nanostructure of ZSM-5 formed in samples. Then chemical decomposition of the vinasses under the influence of ZSM-5 nanostructure was investigated. The main parameter of vinasses wastewater, i.e. chemical oxygen demand (COD), was reduced about 90%. Treatment of vinasses using ZSM-5 nanostructure showed a remarkable increase in susceptibility to biodegradation.

Zeolite, ZSM-5, nanostructure, synthesis, vinasses treatment