Shukla S., Varma M.R., Suresh K.G., Warrier K.G.K.
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), IN
Keywords: dye-adsorption, magnetic, nanocomposite, nanotubes
A magnetic dye-adsorbent catalyst has been developed which is the modification of the conventional magnetic photocatalyst. It consists of a nanocomposite particle having a “core-shell” structure, with a magnetic ceramic particle as a core and dye-adsorbent nanotubes of titanate as a shell. The magnetic dye-adsorbent catalyst possesses an enhanced specific surface-area. As a result, it has been successfully utilized to remove an organic-dye from an aqueous solution via surface-adsorption mechanism, under the dark condition (energy-independent process), which is in contrast to the photocatalytic degradation mechanism, under the ultraviolet-radiation exposure (energy-dependent process), associated with the conventional magnetic photocatalyst. It is demonstrated that, the magnetic dye-adsorbent catalyst can remove as high as ~99 % of an organic-dye from an aqueous solution in just 30 min, where as the conventional magnetic photocatalyst removes only ~55% of an organic-dye in 3 h under the similar test-conditions. A surface-cleaning treatment has been developed for reusing the magnetic dye-adsorbent catalyst by removing the previously adsorbed organic-dye from its surface. In order to further enhance the overall efficiency of the dye-removal process using the magnetic dye-adsorbent catalyst, the dye-removal and surface-cleaning steps are combined in a one-step method.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 1, Nanotechnology 2010: Advanced Materials, CNTs, Particles, Films and Composites
Published: June 21, 2010
Pages: 830 - 833
Industry sector: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
Topics: Advanced Materials for Engineering Applications, Composite Materials
ISBN: 978-1-4398-3401-5