Synthesis and characterization of polystyrene/cuo-fe2o3 nanocomposites from natural materials as hydrophobic photocatalytic coatings

Abstract

This study reports on the synthesis, characterization of polystyrene(PS)/CuO-Fe2O3 nanocomposites, and their application as hydrophobic coatings. CuO and Fe2O3 materials were synthesized from natural materials by the milling method. Meanwhile, the PS/CuO-Fe2O3 nanocomposites were synthesized by the sol-gel method. Furthermore, the hydrophobic coating on the glass substrate was made by the spin-coating. To obtain highest value of contact angle, the composition of both CuO and Fe2O3 in nanocomposite as well as calcination temperatures were varied. Sample characterization was conducted using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and ultraviolet visible (Uv-Vis) spectrophotometry analysis. The Sessile drop method was used to determine the contact angle of the layer. The results showed that PS/CuO-Fe2O3 nanocomposite was successfully obtained with a crystal size between 40-52 nm and grain size of 92 nm. In addition to the basic material of composites, hematite and tenorite, the presence of copper ferrite phase was also identified. The CuO-Fe2O3 composition and its large calcination temperature also plays an effective role in the magnitude of the contact angle. The highest value of contact angle obtained was 125.46° at 3:1 composition and calcination temperature of 200 °C. We found that the PS/CuO-Fe2O3 composite was hydrophobic, but the photocatalyst activity was very small at 0.24%.