Discipline: Chemistry and Chemical Sciences
Subcategory: Chemistry (not Biochemistry)
Session: 2
Room: Cooldge
Chiemeziem Oguayo - Howard University
Co-Author(s): Isaiah Johnson, Howard University, Washington, DC; Stefanie Bennett, University of Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
Agriculture, industries, and other facets of society have contaminated water supplies, which in turn has reduced the amount of clean freshwater for human consumption. Polluted water containing substances such as industrial chemicals or by-products of manufacturing is detrimental to human health. One of the methods being employed to combat this issue is the use of photocatalytic Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 nanoparticles capable of degrading organic pollutants in water. These particles have high degradative properties and can be recycled for use again. Although these particles are effective and recyclable, they usually have to be doped with costly metals such as silver or have to contain a silica interlayer to become more efficient. The aim of this study was to better investigate the role of the silica interlayer on degradation potential, and work at synthesizing a more efficient magnetic nanoparticle. A simple method was used to synthesize Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2-Ag/Zn and Fe3O4/TiO2-Ag/Zn nanocomposites with core-shell structures. To examine the structure of the synthesize particles, Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used. Surface topography, composition and structure could be investigated using these techniques. Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis) was also used determine the degradation of methylene blue, which served as a model for organic pollutants. The synthesized nanocomposites still retained its magnetic properties and were able to be recycled. And the synthesized nanocomposites without the silica interlayer showed a degradation potential similar to that off the particles with the silica interlayer.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): Funding for this research was provided by the NSF HBCU-UP award number 1238466
Faculty Advisor: Sharon Evans, sharon.evans@howard.edu
Role: My partner Isaiah Johnson and I synthesized Fe3O4/TiO2/Ag-Zn nanoparticles. We confirmed the presence of the magnetic nanoparticles. And we tested the degradative properties of the particles using Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy.