ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NP) present innovative optical, electrical, and magnetic properties that depend on specific characteristics, e.g., size, distribution, and morphology. Thus, these properties are essential to address various applications in areas such as electronics, medicine, energy, and others. In addition, the performance of this ZnO-NP depends of their preparation which can be done by chemical, physical, and biological methods. Meanwhile, nowadays, the main interest in developing ZnO-NP synthesis through biological methods bases on the decrease of use of toxic chemicals or energy applied to the procedures, making the process more cost-effective and environmentally friendly. However, the large-scale production of nanoparticles by green synthesis remains a big challenge due to the complexity of the biological extracts used in chemical reactions. That being the case, the preparation of ZnO-NP using Moringa oleifera extract as an alternative biological agent for capping and reduction in synthesis was evaluated in this work. Then, the results based on the analysis of the optical and structural characterization of the ZnO-NP obtained by employing UV-Vis, DLS, zeta potential, XRD, ATR-FTIR, and FE-SEM indicate mostly the presence of spherical nanosized material with a mean hydrodynamic diameter of 47.2 nm measured by DLS and a mean size diameter of 25 nm observed with FE-SEM technique. Furthermore, in FE-SEM images a homogeneous dispersion and distribution is observed in the absence of agglutination, agglomeration, or generation of significant lumps of the ZnO-NP. The XRD analysis showed that heat annealing induced the crystallite size favoring their monocrystallinity. Those obtained data confirm the synthesis of ZnO-NP and the absence of impurities associated with organic compounds in the annealed samples. Finally, those results and low-cost production present to the synthesized ZnO-NP by this biological method as a useful material in several applications.
ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NP) present innovative optical, electrical, and magnetic properties that depend on specific characteristics, e.g., size, distribution, and morphology. Thus, these properties are essential to address various applications in areas such as electronics, medicine, energy, and others. In addition, the performance of this ZnO-NP depends of their preparation which can be done by chemical, physical, and biological methods. Meanwhile, nowadays, the main interest in developing ZnO-NP synthesis through biological methods bases on the decrease of use of toxic chemicals or energy applied to the procedures, making the process more cost-effective and environmentally friendly. However, the large-scale production of nanoparticles by green synthesis remains a big challenge due to the complexity of the biological extracts used in chemical reactions. That being the case, the preparation of ZnO-NP using Moringa oleifera extract as an alternative biological agent for capping and reduction in synthesis was evaluated in this work. Then, the results based on the analysis of the optical and structural characterization of the ZnO-NP obtained by employing UV-Vis, DLS, zeta potential, XRD, ATR-FTIR, and FE-SEM indicate mostly the presence of spherical nanosized material with a mean hydrodynamic diameter of 47.2 nm measured by DLS and a mean size diameter of 25 nm observed with FE-SEM technique. Furthermore, in FE-SEM images a homogeneous dispersion and distribution is observed in the absence of agglutination, agglomeration, or generation of significant lumps of the ZnO-NP. The XRD analysis showed that heat annealing induced the crystallite size favoring their monocrystallinity. Those obtained data confirm the synthesis of ZnO-NP and the absence of impurities associated with organic compounds in the annealed samples. Finally, those results and low-cost production present to the synthesized ZnO-NP by this biological method as a useful material in several applications.
Hydrogels are a very useful type of polymeric material in several economic sectors, acquiring great importance due to their potential applications; however, this type of material, similarly to all polymers, is susceptible to degradation, which must be studied to improve its use. In this sense, the present work shows the degradation phenomena of commercial hydrogels based on potassium and sodium polyacrylate caused by the intrinsic content of different types of potable waters and aqueous solutions. In this way, a methodology for the analysis of this type of phenomenon is presented, facilitating the understanding of this type of degradation phenomenon. In this context, the hydrogels were characterized through swelling and FTIR to verify their performance and their structural changes. Likewise, the waters and wastewaters used for the swelling process were characterized by turbidity, pH, hardness, metals, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, DLS, Z-potential, and UV-vis to determine the changes generated in the types of waters caused by polymeric degradation and which are the most relevant variables in the degradation of the studied materials. The results obtained suggest a polymeric degradation reducing the swelling capacity and the useful life of the hydrogel; in addition, significant physicochemical changes such as the emergence of polymeric nanoparticles are observed in some types of analyzed waters.
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