ZNO-Ag/PS and ZnO/PS Films for Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue

Abstract

Two films of ZnO-Ag/polystyrene (ZnO-Ag/PS) and ZnO/polystyrene (ZnO/PS) have been prepared and the photodegradation ability of stabilized catalysts was evaluated for methylene blue (MB) degradation. The efficiency of ZnO improved against recombination of electron-hole pair by modification of catalyst surface with Ag photodeposition to be more resistant towards photocorrosion. ZnO-Ag catalyst was characterized by SEM and EDS analysis to show high roughness of this catalyst and Ag deposited on the surface was 2% (molar ratio). ZnO-Ag/PS and ZnO/PS composites were made as films and were then analyzed by FTIR spectra that showed the interaction of ZnO and ZnO-Ag with polystyrene appeared in the range of 400-620 cm -1 , XRD pattern indicated the presence of Ag nanoparticles on the surface of ZnO and ZnO/PS film has maximum absorbance at 376 nm in UV-VIS spectra. This value shifted to 380 nm because of the photodeposition. The photocatalytic reaction was depicted using MB in the UVirradiation action of stacked films in MB solution. The result showed that both ZnO-Ag/PS and ZnO/PS films gave efficiency to remove MB by 97% and 70%, respectively. The reusability test of the films showed that ZnO-Ag/PS was more resistant than ZnO/PS. The presence of Ag also increased the efficiency in photodegradation and resistance against photocorrosion.

Facile and Green Synthesis of Silver Quantum Dots Immobilized onto a Polymeric CTS–PEO Blend for the Photocatalytic Degradation of p-Nitrophenol

“…Also, Ag NPs (wt %) of the prepared catalyst (12.0 wt % Ag QDs/CTS–PEO) were measured using the ICP-AES (Labtam, 8440 Plasmalab) technique with an Ar + ion plasma gas equipped with a charged-couple detector for simultaneous detection, and the weight percentages of Ag NPs after the reusability test were 12.01, 11.94, 11.87, and 11.81 wt % for fresh, first, second, and third runs, respectively. In addition, the results gained from our recent work were compared with the other literature, as shown in Table S1. − The results display that our work shows excellent performance for PNP degradation compared with other catalysts, especially in the range of visible light based on the degradation time and degradation rate (%).…”

Photocatalysis with the Use of ZnO Nanostructures as a Method for the Purification of Aquatic Environments from Dyes

“…In the study [ 22 ], the photocatalytic activity of ZnO-Ag/polystyrene (PS) and ZnO/PS nanocomposites in the destruction of MB dye under UV radiation was investigated to develop a film photocatalyst, which would float over the surface of an aquatic environment and would not require any essential efforts on its removal from a water basin after use. The ZnO-Ag composite was manufactured from a suspension of ZnO nanoparticles with AgNO 3 via the photoprecipitation of Ag ions onto ZnO under irradiation with an UV lamp.…”

Optical Properties of Composites Based on Graphene Oxide and Polystyrene

“…The main absorption IR bands of the GO sheets as well as their assignment are shown in Table 2 [21]. −1 , with these being assigned to the subsequent vibrational modes: C-H out-of-plane bending of C 6 H 6 mono-substituted; amorphous phase; ring out-of-plane deformation; amorphous portion of PS; aromatic C-H out-of-plane bending; ring out-of-plane deformation; ring in-plane CCH bending; chain stretching; vinylidene C-H; ester group in C 6 H 5 COO-CH 2 -CH 2 -C 6 H 5 -belonging to PS; ester group in C 6 H 5 COO-C-C-belonging to the GO sheets; CH 2 asymmetric stretching; and CH asymmetric stretching [6,16,[22][23][24][25][26][27]. When increasing the GO sheets concentration in the PS matrix, one observes a gradual increase in the absorbance of the IR band peaked at 1743 cm −1 .…”