Synthesis of ZnO/Polystyrene nanocomposite and photocatalytic ability for degradation of Malachite Green dye

Synthesis of ZnO/Polystyrene nanocomposite and photocatalytic ability for degradation of Malachite Green dye

Poster

Silvia Dimova1, Katerina Zaharieva2, Irina Stambolova3, Filip Ublekov1, Mariya Kyulavska1
1Institute of Polymers, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
2Institute of Catalysis, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria 3Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria

In this study Zinc oxide/Polystyrene nanocomposite has been prepared via simple mixing route of polystyrene solution in toluene with hydrothermally synthesized ZnO. For the preparation of zinc oxide were used zinc nitrate, urea and ammonium hydroxide as starting materials. The physicochemical properties of these materials were studied by powder X-ray diffraction analysis (Average particle size: 30nm), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM analysis of ZnO/polystyrene composite particle indicated raspberry-like morphology. The photocatalytic properties of prepared ZnO/polystyrene nanocomposite were tested in the reaction of degradation of Malachite Green dye as model pollutant in aqueous solution (5 ppm) under UV light. The study established that degree of degradation of Malachite Green (90%) after 180 minutes using ZnO/polystyrene material was achieved. The obtained ZnO/polystyrene nanocomposite demonstrates a higher photocatalytic ability for degradation of Malachite Green dye in comparison with hydrothermally synthesized ZnO.
Key words: polystyrene,ZnO, ZnO/PS nanocomposite, photocatalyst