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Green Preparation of Flexible and Transparent SiO2-Fe2O3-PS film for Dye Adsorption and UV-Shielding Applications
Summary
Researchers developed a multifunctional polymer nanocomposite film made from waste polystyrene and natural materials that can absorb dyes and block UV radiation. Repurposing plastic waste into useful materials like this could help reduce the amount of plastic that fragments into microplastics in the environment.
Abstract A multifunctional green polymer nanocomposite (SiO2-Fe2O3-PS) film has been prepared using earth-abandoned and waste materials such as natural sand, waste expanded polystyrene (EPS), and pea eggplant fruit extract. SiO2 was prepared using natural sand by alkali fusion method, SiO2-Fe2O3 was prepared by microwave assisted green synthesis method and the SiO2-Fe2O3-PS film was prepared by solution casting method. The SiO2-Fe2O3 (20:80)-PS film shows the shielding efficiency of 91–100% in the wavelength range of 390 − 200 nm and transparency of 71% to visible light at 800 nm. The SiO2-Fe2O3 (50:50)-PS film shows maximum adsorption capacity of 61.2% to methylene blue (MB) dye. The UV-Vis peak position of SiO2 (326 nm) and Fe2O3 (276 nm) are in line with the literature. The peak position in SiO2-Fe2O3 at different wt% ratio, were found at 290 nm (10:90), 328 nm (20:80), and 292 nm (50:50), which are indicative of the formation of heterostructure. The XRD data of SiO2-Fe2O3 comprises sharp peaks of both components that confirm the heterostructure formation and its crystalline nature. The SiO2-Fe2O3-PS composite formation was confirmed by FTIR and FESEM. The film is hydrophilic in nature (contact angle of 75.96°) and shows maximum thermal stability upto 381.6 ℃ (SiO2-Fe2O3 (20:80)-PS). The adsorption experiment was carried out using a 50 mg catalyst either in powder or film form with 100 mL dye solution of concentration 20 mg/L, where equilibrium adsorption was achieved within 180 minutes. The adsorption efficiency of SiO2, Fe2O3, SiO2-Fe2O3 (20:80), SiO2-Fe2O3(50:50), and SiO2-Fe2O3(50:50)-PS are found to be 98.3%, 3.88%, 91.1%, 96.2%, and 61.2%, respectively. The MB dye adsorption process follows pseudo second order kinetics and is best fitted with the Langmuir isotherm model. The novel SiO2-Fe2O3-PS film is found to be low cost, green, and environmentally friendly with multifunctional applications in the area of UV shielding, visible transparent and dye adsorption.