الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract For the first time, a facile approach is reported here to fine-tuning the surface of sodium titanate (Na2Ti3O7) nanowires widely by successfully nanoblending of the low cost and versatile nanowires into hyperbranched polyester matrix without any prefunctionalization for its surface by using expensive chain-like molecules (e.g., organosilanes). TiO2 nanowires (NWs) were prepared by hydrothermal treatment of TiO2 nanoparticles in alkaline medium, while hyperbranched polyester, HPES-OH, was prepared by polycondensation. The adjustable nanocompositing showed a better workability in not only in-situ polymerization of 4,4-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) valeric acid (AB2- monomer) but also ex-situ nanoblending of the hyperbranched polyester with the nanowires. The Chemical structure of HPES-OH was confirmed by1H and13C NMR spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and its molar mass was determined using gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Meanwhile, the resultant nanocomposites were investigated using transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and contact angle measurements. The unusual surface versatility of the resultant nanocomposites, compared to that of pure TiO2 NWs, was found to be favorable for photo-assisted degradation of environmental hazardous pollutants such as phenolic, amide and naphthyl compounds. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) analysis confirmed the mineralization of the wastewater via photocatalytic degradation reaction. The results showed that not only the photocatalytic performance of the obtained nanocomposites was much higher than that of the pure TiO2-NWs but also the degradation time was reduced to large extent. This can be attributed to reduction in the crystallite size that was occurred due to the modification reaction. Durability of HPES-OH/TiO2 nanocomposites was also investigated. The results confirmed that the modified TiO2 NWs can be utilized for more than one time, which suggests developing a strong adhesion between the NWs and HPES-OH through the formation of 2D structure. The importance of this study arises from the incorporation of titanium dioxide with different morphologies in various of applications especially in photocatalysis which considered a feasible, low cost, environmentally friendly and sustainable technology for environmental applications including air purification, water treatment, Self-cleaning materials, coatings and packaging materials, hydrogen fuel production,…..etc. However, the production of TiO2 nanocomposites with high performance, low cost and long durability with respect to the photocatalytic properties is still a challenge. Consequently, new materials based on titanium dioxide have been developed in this work and found new uses for TiO2 photocatalysis. Moreover, among all possible ways of forming the nanocomposites, such preparation strategy introduced in this study was proven to be the most easy, facile, low cost, precise, economic, effective, generalized and industry-viable approach for massproduction of different types of nanocomposites in particularly for large scale industries such as packaging materials and coatings. |