ZnO nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by a solochemical method using zinc chloride as the precursor in a sodium hydroxide solution with ZnCl2:NaOH ratios of 1:2 and 1:3. The effects of the thermal treatment on the functionalities of the nanoparticles were investigated by comparing calcined ZnO with uncalcined ZnO. Calcined ZnO underwent a drying process at 120°C, followed by calcination at 500°C, while uncalcined ZnO underwent the drying process only. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by XRD and FESEM-EDX analysis. The photoactivity of synthesized ZnO was evaluated through methylene blue degradation. In addition, ZnO nanofluids were synthesized by dispersing nanoparticles into the base fluid. The nanofluidic stability in the presence of a Palm Oil-Based Primary Alkyl Sulphate (palmPAS) surfactant were investigated using a spectrophotometer UV-vis with varied PalmPAS concentrations. XRD and FESEM analysis showed that the nanoparticles exhibited a hexagonal wurtzite structure, and confirmed that the particle size increased on calcination. All the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles exhibited good photoactivity under UV light irradiation due, to some extent, to their good crystallinity. The calcined ZnO from the ZnCl2:NaOH ratio of 1:3 offered the best photocatalytic performance compared to its ZnO counterparts. It was also found that the nanofluids of uncalcined ZnO from the ZnCl2:NaOH ratio of 1:3, at a ZnO:palmPAS ratio of 1:9, offered the best stability.

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In this work, we report the synthesis of eco-friendly detergent from crude palm oil and titania. Crude palm oil was converted into methyl ester sulfonate through esterification, transesterification and followed by sulfonation process. As-produced methyl ester sulfonate was characterized with Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LCMS) and surface tension analysis. Detergents were synthesized by dispersing titania nanoparticles into methyl ester sulfonate solution, forming a nanofluid. Stability and detergency of the nanofluidic detergents were then evaluated. The results showed that the nanofluid detergents were stable in the presence of 0.1 wt % titania and the photocatalytic activity of titania nanoparticles improved the ability of nanofluidic detergents to remove dirt as well as degrading the surfactant residues in the laundry waste stream.

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