Mezzina Lidia, Nicosia Angelo, Vento Fabiana, De Guidi Guido, Mineo Placido Giuseppe
Department of Chemical Sciences and INSTM UdR of Catania, University of Catania, V.le A. Doria 6, I-95125 Catania, Italy.
Institute for Chemical and Physical Processes, National Research Council (IPCF-CNR), Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 37, I-98158 Messina, Italy.
Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Mar 17;12(6):996. doi: 10.3390/nano12060996.
Among different depollution methods, photocatalysis activated by solar light is promising for terrestrial outdoor applications. However, its use in underground structures and/or microgravity environments (e.g., extraterrestrial structures) is forbidden. In these cases, there are issues related to the energy emitted from the indoor lighting system because it is not high enough to promote the photocatalytic mechanism. Moreover, microgravity does not allow the recovery of the photocatalytic slurry from the depolluted solution. In this work, the synthesis of a filmable nanocomposite based on semiconductor nanoparticles supported by photosensitized copolyacrylates was performed through a bulk in situ radical copolymerization involving a photosensitizer macromonomer. The macromonomer and the nanocomposites were characterized through UV-Vis, fluorescence and NMR spectroscopies, gel permeation chromatography and thermogravimetric analysis. The photocatalytic activity of the sensitized nanocomposites was studied through photodegradation tests of common dyes and recalcitrant xenobiotic pollutants, employing UV-Vis and visible range (λ > 390 nm) light radiations. The sensitized nanocomposite photocatalytic performances increased about two times that of the unsensitized nanocomposite and that of visible range light radiation alone (>390 nm). The experimental data have shown that these new systems, applied as thin films, have the potential for use in indoor deep underground and extraterrestrial structures.
在不同的污染清除方法中，太阳光激活的光催化对于地面户外应用很有前景。然而，它在地下结构和/或微重力环境（如外星结构）中的使用是被禁止的。在这些情况下，存在与室内照明系统发出的能量相关的问题，因为其能量不足以促进光催化机制。此外，微重力不允许从净化后的溶液中回收光催化浆料。在这项工作中，通过涉及光敏大分子单体的本体原位自由基共聚反应，合成了一种基于由光敏共聚丙烯酸酯负载的半导体纳米颗粒的可成膜纳米复合材料。通过紫外可见光谱、荧光光谱和核磁共振光谱、凝胶渗透色谱法和热重分析对大分子单体和纳米复合材料进行了表征。通过对常见染料和难降解的外源污染物进行光降解测试，利用紫外可见光谱和可见光范围（λ>390nm）的光辐射，研究了敏化纳米复合材料的光催化活性。敏化纳米复合材料的光催化性能比未敏化的纳米复合材料以及单独的可见光范围光辐射（>390nm）提高了约两倍。实验数据表明，这些作为薄膜应用的新系统有潜力用于室内深层地下和外星结构。
