New Nanocomposite for Cleaning Organic Waste

• 03 Jul 2024

Source: PIB

Recently, a new metal oxide nanocomposite has been developed by researchers at the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) that can be used as sustainable technologies for cleaning up the environment.

• These new composites use photocatalysis for the decomposition of pollutants.
• Photocatalysts are materials that change the rate of a chemical reaction on exposure to light.
  • In the presence of light, they generate electron-hole pairs that degrade pollutants into harmless by-products. 
• Metal oxide photocatalysis ( eg. Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, And Tungsten Trioxide), due to its high surface area and stability, offers a sustainable solution for removing organic pollutants from water bodies. 
• These new photocatalytic metal oxides can be used for the degradation of organic pollutants in the dyes and pharmaceutical sectors.
• The nanocomposite (a combination of two or more materials, of which at least one is a nanomaterial) can be used in catalysis, energy storage, sensors, optoelectronics, biomedical fields, coatings, and renewable energy production.
• Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), located in Guwahati, is an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Read more: Ratification of 7 Persistent Organic Pollutants, Role of Nanomaterials in Solving Environmental Issues `