Enhancing Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Blue Using PVP-Capped and Uncapped CdSe Nanoparticles

Abstract

Quantum confinement of semiconductor nanoparticles is a potential feature which can be interesting for photocatalysis, and cadmium selenide is one simple type of quantum dot to use in the following photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes. CdSe nanoparticles capped with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in various concentration ratios were synthesized by the chemical reduction method and characterized. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the samples showed that 50% PVP-capped CdSe nanoparticles were uniformly distributed in size with an average of 2.7 nm and shape which was spherical-like. The photocatalytic degradation of methyl blue (MB) in water showed efficiencies of 31% and 48% when using uncapped and 50% PVP-capped CdSe nanoparticles as photocatalysts, respectively. The efficiency of PVP-capped CdSe nanoparticles indicated that a complete green process can be utilized for photocatalytic treatment of water and waste water.