Synthesis and Characterization of Nanostructure Transition Metal Oxides Extracted from Industrial Waste (EOFD) by Hydrothermal Method.

Electric oil furnace dust (EOFD) is a solid waste generated in the collection of particulate material during steelmaking process in electric and oil furnaces. Over 7 million metric tons dust produced per annum in worldwide creates deep impacts like soil, ground water and ecology pollutions. This article reports the simple one step process for the extraction of nanostructured metal oxides from the industrial waste (EOFD) for the realization of low cost solar applications. By hydrothermal technique valuable metals were obtained in the form of metal oxides. Initially the presence of metals was identified by ICP analysis. XRD analysis confirms the formation of nano structured titanium oxide (TiO) along with traces of iron oxide (Fe2O3). The surface morphology and the particle size were analyzed by SEM analysis. Thus the metal oxides derived could be helpful to reduce the burden on the environment, increase the development of the source nano material and reduce the cost of raw materials for solar cell applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]