Estudo das propriedades fotocatalíticas e elétricas de nanocristais de simonkolleite e seu nanocompósito com nanocristais de óxido de zinco

Abstract

Simonkolleite (SM) nanocrystals have several interesting electronic, photocatalytic and biological properties, such as supercapacitor effect and antitumor and antimicrobial activities. The synergism of this nanocrystal with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystals potentiated some interesting biological properties, recently demonstrated by the our group, however there are still no studies in the photocatalytic area and in electrochemical sensors. In view of this, this work investigated the photocatalytic and electrical properties of SM nanocrystals and its nanocomposite with ZnO nanocrystals. The photocatalytic properties of nanomaterials were evaluated against the degradation of the sulfanilamide drug under ultraviolet radiation in terms of production of oxidative species via UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy measurements. Based on the results, it was verified that the SM/ZnO nanocomposite presented the highest degradation efficiency of the sulfanilamide drug. The electrical properties of nanomaterials were investigated via electrochemical sensors using cyclic voltammetry, in which SM nanocrystals showed the best electrochemical responses. In view of this, we demonstrate that SM nanocrystals are more appropriate for electrochemical sensors and the SM/ZnO nanocomposite is more photocatalytic in the degradation of the sulfanilamide drug.