Biotemplated and polymer coupled zno for photocatalytic and antitumour applications

Abstract

Semiconductor metal oxides are versatile materials with tuneable surface, optical and electrical properties and hence, find multitude of applications in various fields. ZnO has emerged as one such semiconductor newlinemetal oxide possessing multifunctional properties. ZnO finds diverse newlineapplications in the fields of rubber, paints, pharmaceuticals, photocatalysis, newlinefood, cosmetics, electronics and textile. The present work revolves around the newlinesynthesis of modified ZnO suitable for visible light absorption and antitumour newlineapplications. Industrial effluents are the major pollutants that diminish the newlinequality of the water. In the current scenario, treating the polluted water newlinebecomes a necessary process to retain the available water resources free from newlinepollution. Semiconductor metal oxide mediated photocatalysis is one of the newlineefficient processes employed for treating polluted water. Among the newlinesemiconductor metal oxides, ZnO and titania have been proved to be successful in the photocatalytic remediation of diverse classes of air and water pollutants. ZnO with the wide band gap of 3.37 eV and large exciton binding energy of 60 MeV has been reported to be superior to commercial Degussa P25 in certain cases, as ZnO has high quantum efficiency and absorption in newlinesolar region. In general, the surface properties and the morphology of ZnO newlinedetermines its photocatalytic activity. newline newline