Abstract

CASTRO ACUNA, Giovanni Andrés  and  REYES CUELLAR, Julia Constanza. Nanocrystals for the degradation of a pollutant dye. Rev.Colomb.Quim. [online]. 2016, vol.45, n.1, pp.27-33. ISSN 0120-2804.  https://doi.org/10.15446/rev.colomb.quim.v45n1.58567.

The photo-stability of nanocrystals (NCs) in II-VI group such as CdSe is used for photo-catalytic processes. The presence of toxic metals limits their implementation in environmental applications such as synthetic dyes treatment, which are found in textile, leather, and paper industries. NCs ZnS and CdS, stabilized in the presence of ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid and sodium dodecyl sulfate, respectively, were compared in the photo-catalytic treatment of methylene blue (MB), under UV light. The two kinds of NCs showed absorption bands displaced towards 500 nm and fluorescent emission bands around 430 nm. These optical properties are attributed to nano size as observed by scanning electron microscopy (20-50 and 100-150 nm). MB degradation by NCs reached yields up to 92% and 77% for ZnS and CdS, respectively, due to the photo-catalytic production of hydroxyl radicals capable of participating in redox processes. In conclusion, NCs catalyzed the remediation of MB, a heterocyclic aromatic dye of broad industrial use.

Keywords : Semiconductor nanoparticles; degradation of pollutants; methylene blue; photocatalysis; wastewater.

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