Basic Science Sector

Citation:

Khalil, W. K. B., E. Girgis, A. N. Emam, M. B. Mohamed, and K. V. Rao, "Studies on the photo-catalytic activity of semiconductor nanostructures and their gold core", Nanotechnology, 2011.

Abstract:

This work is devoted to synthesize different semiconductor nanoparticles and their metal core-shell nanocomposites such as TiO2, Au/TiO2, ZnO, and Au/ZnO. The morphology and crystal structures of the developed nanomaterials were characterized by TEM and XRD. These materials were used as catalysts for the photodegradation of Malathion that is one of the most commonly used pesticides in the developing countries. The degradation of 10 ppm Malathion under ultraviolet (UV) and visible light in the presence of different synthesized nanocomposites was analyzed by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and UV-Visible Spectra. A comprehensive study was carried out for the catalytic efficiency of the prepared nanoparticles. Moreover, the effects of different factors that could influence the catalytic photodegradation such as different light source, surface coverage and nature of the organic contaminants were investigated. The results indicate that the core-shell nanocomposite of the semiconductor-gold serves as a better catalytic system compared with semiconductor nanoparticles themselves.

Notes:

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