Nanoparticles of niobium oxyhydroxide incorporated in different polymers for photocatalytic degradation of dye

Abstract

In this work, it has been reported the preparation of catalytic systems based on chemically modified niobium oxides and different polymer matrices, polypropylene (PP), poly(3-hydroxibutyrate) (PHB) and polyurethane (WPU). The efficiency of systems as photocatalytis was investigated. Materials prepared from various polymer matrices showed distinct photocatalytic activities. The systems based on PHB matrix and niobium oxihydroxide presenting the best performance among the studies systems, ~ 90% dye removal at 60 min. The results of systems characterization by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analysis technical have showed that nanoparticles size, their dispersion in the polymeric matrix and interaction polymer-inorganic particles are responsible by changing photocatalysis process. However, for the PHB, structure parameters of matrix are important. The synchrotron radiation was used to investigate the macromolecular structure of the pure polymers and after the incorporation of niobium nanoparticles.