Fabrication of photocatalyst based on Eu3+-doped ZnS-SiO2 and sodium alginate core shell nanocomposite

E S Agorku; H Mittal; B B Mamba; A C Pandey; A K Mishra

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2014.06.037

Fabrication of photocatalyst based on Eu3+-doped ZnS-SiO2 and sodium alginate core shell nanocomposite

Int J Biol Macromol. 2014 Sep:70:143-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2014.06.037. Epub 2014 Jun 28.

Authors

E S Agorku¹, H Mittal¹, B B Mamba¹, A C Pandey², A K Mishra³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
² Nanotechnology and Application Centre, University of Allahabad, India.
³ Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address: amishra@uj.ac.za.

PMID: 24984023
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2014.06.037

Abstract

This research paper reports the photocatalytic properties of Zn-SiO2-Eu3+ and sodium alginate (Alg) based nanocomposites for the degradation of indigo carmine dye. Initially, Eu3+ doped ZnS-SiO2 nanophorphor was synthesized and after that it was incorporated within the grafted crosslinked polymer matrix of Alg with acrylamide-co-acrylic acid in different concentrations. Synthesized materials were characterized using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, SEM/EDX, TEM and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. XRD and TEM analyses confirmed the formation of nanoparticles as well as the uniform distribution of the nanoparticles within the polymer matrix. The UV-vis and UV-vis DRS spectral analysis indicated that Eu3+ doping causes a red-shift in the absorption band, resulting in the reduction in band gaps. The synergic effect of ZnS and Eu3+ in the SiO2 evidenced the photocatalytic performance of the catalyst. Alg-cl-poly(AAM-co-MAA)/ZnS-SiO2-Eu3+ nanocomposites were found to be very effective for the degradation of indigo carmine under visible light. Highest photocatalytic performance (93.4%) was shown by the nanocomposite with the 20% concentration of the nanoparticle after 5h. The photocatalytic activity was mainly attributed to the intense light absorption in the visible region and narrow band gap energy.

Keywords: Crosslinking; Graft copolymerization; Hydrogel; Indigo carmine; Photocatalysis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Alginates / chemistry*
Catalysis
Europium / chemistry*
Glucuronic Acid / chemistry
Hexuronic Acids / chemistry
Light*
Nanocomposites / chemistry*
Nanocomposites / ultrastructure
Silicon Dioxide / chemistry*
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
Spectrum Analysis, Raman
Sulfides / chemistry*
X-Ray Diffraction
Zinc Compounds / chemistry*

Substances

Alginates
Hexuronic Acids
Sulfides
Zinc Compounds
Europium
Silicon Dioxide
Glucuronic Acid
zinc sulfide