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Growth of ZnO nanowires on nonwoven polyethylene fibers
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Document Title
Growth of ZnO nanowires on nonwoven polyethylene fibers
Author
Baruah S, Thanachayanont C, Dutta J
Name from Authors Collection
Affiliations
Asian Institute of Technology; National Science & Technology Development Agency - Thailand; National Metal & Materials Technology Center (MTEC)
Type
Article; Proceedings Paper
Source Title
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF ADVANCED MATERIALS
ISSN
1468-6996
Year
2008
Volume
9
Open Access
Green Published, gold
Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI
10.1088/1468-6996/9/2/025009
Format
Abstract
We report the growth of ZnO nanowires on nonwoven polyethylene fibers using a simple hydrothermal method at a temperature below the boiling point of water. The ZnO nanowires were grown from seed ZnO nanoparticles affixed onto the fibers. The seed ZnO nanoparticles, with diameters of about 6-7 nm, were synthesized in isopropanol by reducing zinc acetate hydrate with sodium hydroxide. The growth process was carried out in a sealed chemical bath containing an equimolar solution of zinc nitrate hexahydrate and hexamethylene tetramine at a temperature of 95 degrees C over a period of up to 20 h. The thickness and length of the nanowires can be controlled by using different concentrations of the starting reactants and growth durations. A 0.5mM chemical bath yielded nanowires with an average diameter of around 50 nm, while a 25mM bath resulted in wires with a thickness of up to about 1 mu m. The length of the wires depends both on the concentration of the precursor solution as well as the growth duration, and in 20 h, nanowires as long as 10 mu m can be grown. The nonwoven mesh of polyethylene fibers covered with ZnO nanowires can be used for novel applications such as water treatment by degrading pollutants by photocatalysis. Photocatalysis tests carried out on standard test contaminants revealed that the polyethylene fibers with ZnO nanowires grown on them could accelerate the photocatalytic degradation process by a factor of 3.
Keyword
hydrothermal | nanowires | photocatalysis | Polyethylene | ZnO
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WOS