ISFAHAN, Dec. 08 (MNA) – Researchers in Faculty of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology have synthesized nano-zinc oxide from plant wastes.
The synthesis was a product of an MSc thesis in Agricultural Science Engineering. Reza Abolqasemi’s experiments produced the first nano-ZnO maneuver from plant waste in the country.


He told Mehr News local correspondent that nanotechnology had found wide applications in agriculture and botany; “plant waste especially wastes from herbal wastes is a challenge for the recycling factories and the environment as well; developing practical methods of plant waste management would be an important step in attaining sustainable development and protection of environment,” he said.


Dr. Maryam Haqiqi, the research supervisor mentioned economic benefits along with environment protection as other achievements in sound management of plant wastes; “re-using waste to produce environment-friendly products, improving the performance efficiency of the raw material, and eliminating the unused waste is economically justified,” she said. “A daily average of 400,000 tons of agricultural waste is produced and the Department of Environment does not have the necessary capacity to manage and recycle this huge amount; significant amounts of organic material of the waste is ignored by the Municipality, while economic profits of recycling of the waste has long attracted the attentions around the world,” she asserted.


“For example, management of the wastes of Damask rose from the workshops collecting rose waters in large scale imposes costs on farmers and the environmental authorities; the project has addressed reusing of these wastes to deal with these issues,” Haqiqi told Mehr News.


“Production of nano-ZnO through the processing of the plants waste is environment-friendly, since it uses organic components; the method produces 0.5gr of nano-ZnO from each 2gr of the waste, which would amount to 3,596 tons of nano-ZnO from a total waste of 14,386 tons annually,” she estimated.


Haqiqi added that the produced nano-ZnO was a raw material in different industries such as porcelain glazing, rubber, shoe, ceramic and tile industry, production of clothing and cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.


The project and method to produce nano-ZnO has been patented in Iranian Patent and Inventions Office.


By Mehr News Agency





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