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Published on: April 7, 2017
Zinc oxide functionalized human hair: A potential water decontaminating agent
Somnath Das1, Sher Singh Meena2, Amitava Pramanik1
1Unilever R&D Bangalore, 64, Main Road, Whitefield, Bangalore 560066, India.
Hypothesis:
Nano-ZnO is an efficient photocatalyst that can be employed for water purification but its separation from water is difficult. Immobilization of nano-ZnO on a fibrous material is expected to add practicality to its application.
Experiments:
We synthesized ZnO nanostructures on a natural waste, human hair, via a cost-effective process, characterized the system and tested the efficacy of the composite for photo-decomposition of a few toxic materials in water.
Findings:
Layers of well crystalline ZnO nanostructures grew homogeneously on hair strands, initially as thin plates that slowly turned with time into nanorods (length 400-600nm, width 28-30nm), converting the mildly hydrophobic hair (water contact angle 104°) surface into superhydrophobic (water contact angle 149°). The composite was found to effectively photodecompose toxic dyes like methylene blue, direct red, alizarin red S and aromatics (toluene), for multiple cycles without losing much efficacy.
