In the last decades, water pollution from different industries has been one of the largest environmental issues. Many efforts have been made to develop technologies to remove toxic pollutants from the contaminated waters, which are direct threats to the aquatic environment and human health. Among different technologies, heterogeneous catalysis has shown to be very effective for water purification. The main issue regarding this method is the water recovery after the treatment, which is a very expensive and laborious procedure but can be addressed by the immobilization of photocatalytic particles on the support material. Here, we present efficient and green technology for water purification based on ZnO/SnO 2 -poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanocomposite foils utilizing superior photocatalytic properties of coupled ZnO and SnO 2 photocatalysts. We investigated the influence of the ZnO/SnO 2 nanoparticle concentration on the removal efficiency of methylene blue dye and found exceptional removal efficiency for even very low ZnO/SnO 2 nanoparticle loadings. The investigated foils were found to be highly reusable, with no change in performance after five successive usages. The composition, optical properties, surface morphology, and surface roughness of the foils were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV−vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The thermal measurements performed with differential scanning calorimetry suggested the reinforcement effect of ZnO/SnO 2 nanoparticles on the PMMA matrix, which is essential for practical applications of the foils.
Currently, environmental pollution by various organic pollutants (e.g., organic dyes) is a serious, emerging global issue. The aqueous environment is highly exposed to the harmful effects of these organic compounds. Furthermore, the commonly applied conventional purification techniques are not sufficient enough. Heterogeneous photocatalysis and the photo-Fenton process are effective, low-cost and green alternatives for the removal of organic pollutants. In this study, different iron(III) oxide/titanium(IV) oxide/polyvinyl chloride (Fe2O3/TiO2/PVC) nanocomposites in tablet form were investigated in the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under simulated sunlight, and their possible antibacterial effects were examined. The newly synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The results showed a hematite crystal form in the case of Fe2O3(2) and Fe2O3 samples, while the Fe2O3(1) sample showed a combination of hematite and synthetic mineral akaganeite. The highest photocatalytic efficiency was achieved in the presence of Fe2O3/TiO2/PVC, when 70.6% of MB was removed. In addition, the possible photo-cleaning and reuse of the mentioned photocatalyst was also examined. Based on the results, it can be seen that the activity did not decrease after five successive runs. Nanocomposites also exhibited mild antibacterial effects against the two tested Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus and B. cereus).
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