| 1. |
- Al-Hinai, Muna H., et al.
(författare)
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Antimicrobial Activity Enhancement of Poly(ether sulfone) Membranes by in Situ Growth of ZnO Nanorods
- 2017
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Ingår i: ACS Omega. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 2470-1343. ; 2:7, s. 3157-3167
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Composite poly(ether sulfone) membranes integrated with ZnO nanostructures either directly blended or grown in situ have enhanced antibacterial activity with improved functionality in reducing the biofouling in water treatment applications. The pore structure and surface properties of the composite were studied to investigate the effect of the addition of ZnO nanostructures. The hydrophilicity of the blended membranes increased with a higher content of ZnO nanoparticles in the membrane (2-6%), which could be further controlled by varying the growth conditions of ZnO nanorods on the polymer surface. Improved water flux, bovine serum albumin rejection, and inhibition of Escherichia coli bacterial growth under visible light irradiation was observed for the membranes decorated with ZnO nanorods compared to those in the membranes simply blended with ZnO nanoparticles. No regrowth of E. coli was recorded even 2 days after the incubation.
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| 2. |
- Al-Saadi, Mubarak J., et al.
(författare)
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Influence of Atomic Hydrogen, Band Bending, and Defects in the Top Few Nanometers of Hydrothermally Prepared Zinc Oxide Nanorods
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nanoscale Research Letters. - : Springer. - 1931-7573 .- 1556-276X. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the surface, sub-surface (top few nanometers) and bulk properties of hydrothermally grown zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) prior to and after hydrogen treatment. Upon treating with atomic hydrogen (H*), upward and downward band bending is observed depending on the availability of molecular H2O within the structure of the NRs. In the absence of H2O, the H* treatment demonstrated a cleaning effect of the nanorods, leading to a 0.51 eV upward band bending. In addition, enhancement in the intensity of room temperature photoluminescence (PL) signals due to the creation of new surface defects could be observed. The defects enhanced the visible light activity of the ZnO NRs which were subsequently used to photocatalytically degrade aqueous phenol under simulated sunlight. On the contrary, in the presence of H2O, H* treatment created an electronic accumulation layer inducing downward band bending of 0.45 eV (similar to 1/7th of the bulk ZnO band gap) along with the weakening of the defect signals as observed from room temperature photoluminescence spectra. The results suggest a plausible way of tailoring the band bending and defects of the ZnO NRs through control of H2O/H* species.
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