Surface modification of ZnO quantum dots coated polylactic acid knitted fabric for photocatalytic application

Abstract

In this work, ZnO quantum dots (ZnOQD) were synthesized by Sol–gel synthe- sis and impregnated on polylactic acid (PLA) knitted fabric through self- assembly of different cycles from layer-by-layer (LBL) using cationic agent Poly(diallydimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). Then, morphological, chemi- cal and photocatalytic properties were studied. The results demonstrate that the synthesis provided 8 nm Wurtzite-type ZnO nanoparticles. In addition, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) proved the inclusion of ZnOQD on the surface of PLA matrix, which allowed the evaluation of its photocatalytic properties, there- fore, coated PLA with five cycles of ZnOQD obtained the best result for degrading 85% of the dye Rhodamine B (RhB) in 360 min under UV radiation, in addition to its reusability for another five cycles of photocatalytic activity.