Use of Natural Rubber Membranes as Support for Powder TiO2and Ag/TiO2 Photocatalysts

• Autor(a) principal: Stropa,Jusinei M.
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Herrero,Aline S., Oliveira,Silvio C., Cavalheiro,Alberto A., Dantas,Renato F., Oliveira,Samuel L., Machulek Jr.,Amilcar, Oliveira,Lincoln C. S.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-50532016000300575
• topic: titanium dioxide; silver; membrane; natural rubber; heterogeneous photocatalysis

The purpose of this study was to synthesize TiO2-polymer composites able to act as photocatalyst membranes. TiO2 catalysts were prepared using the sol-gel method to contain 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 wt.% of embedded Ag particles, subsequently incorporated into natural rubber latex at a weight fraction of 15%. Samples of these ceramic powders were suspended in a latex emulsion (natural rubber), cast in Petri dishes and slowly dried in an oven. The resulting materials were evaluated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry, and photocatalytic assaying using methylene blue as an organic pollutant reference. All composite membranes exhibited good photoactivity conferred by TiO2 powder, with 98% dye fading after 300 min of ultraviolet irradiation.