Somnath Das1, Sher Singh Meena2, Amitava Pramanik3. 1. Unilever R&D Bangalore, 64, Main Road, Whitefield, Bangalore 560066, India. 2. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pune 411008, India. 3. Unilever R&D Bangalore, 64, Main Road, Whitefield, Bangalore 560066, India. Electronic address: amitava.pramanik@unilever.com.
Abstract
HYPOTHESIS: Nano-ZnO is an efficient photocatalyst that can be employed for water purification but its separation from water is difficult. Immobilization of nano-ZnO on a fibrous material is expected to add practicality to its application. EXPERIMENTS: We synthesized ZnO nanostructures on a natural waste, human hair, via a cost-effective process, characterized the system and tested the efficacy of the composite for photo-decomposition of a few toxic materials in water. FINDINGS: Layers of well crystalline ZnO nanostructures grew homogeneously on hair strands, initially as thin plates that slowly turned with time into nanorods (length 400-600nm, width 28-30nm), converting the mildly hydrophobic hair (water contact angle 104°) surface into superhydrophobic (water contact angle 149°). The composite was found to effectively photodecompose toxic dyes like methylene blue, direct red, alizarin red S and aromatics (toluene), for multiple cycles without losing much efficacy.
HYPOTHESIS: Nano-ZnO is an efficient photocatalyst that can be employed for water purification but its separation from water is difficult. Immobilization of nano-ZnO on a fibrous material is expected to add practicality to its application. EXPERIMENTS: We synthesized ZnO nanostructures on a natural waste, human hair, via a cost-effective process, characterized the system and tested the efficacy of the composite for photo-decomposition of a few toxic materials in water. FINDINGS: Layers of well crystalline ZnO nanostructures grew homogeneously on hair strands, initially as thin plates that slowly turned with time into nanorods (length 400-600nm, width 28-30nm), converting the mildly hydrophobic hair (water contact angle 104°) surface into superhydrophobic (water contact angle 149°). The composite was found to effectively photodecompose toxic dyes like methylene blue, direct red, alizarin red S and aromatics (toluene), for multiple cycles without losing much efficacy.
Authors: Katarzyna Siwińska-Stefańska; Adam Kubiaka; Adam Piasecki; Joanna Goscianska; Grzegorz Nowaczyk; Stefan Jurga; Teofil Jesionowski Journal: Materials (Basel) Date: 2018-05-18 Impact factor: 3.623