STRUCTURALLY MODIFIED BIOPOLYMER NANOCOMPOSITE FOR THE PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF METHYLENE BLUE DYE

Abstract

Environmental pollution, especially water pollution, is a serious problem faced by the world nowadays. Dyes from the textile industry are one of the main causes of water pollution. One of the most widely used methods to reduce dyes
pollution is the photocatalytic degradation method. In this paper, structurally modified biopolymer nanocomposites were
synthesized by simple precipitation method. The obtained nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction
(XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX), Atomic Force Microscopy
(AFM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and FTIR. The XRD results
indicated the nanocomposites are highly crystalline, having the hexagonal wurtzite structure. The particle size can be
calculated from the Debye scherrer’s formula. The optical properties are studied by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy.
In addition, the photocatalytic activity was investigated against methylene blue dye. A good photocatalytic activity was
observed from zinc oxide doped biopolymer nanocomposites.