Fuente: Sustainability - Revista científica (MDPI) Sustainability, Vol. 18, Pages 5461: Advanced Biocompatible SnO2/ZnO–TiO2 Nanocomposites for Sustainable Environmental Protection and Dye Degradation
Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su18115461
Authors:
Evghenii Goncearenco
Monica Scarisoreanu
Iuliana P. Morjan
Elena Dutu
Valentin. S. Teodorescu
Carmen Ioana Fort
Miruna Stan

Increasing environmental pollution has intensified the focus on sustainability, encouraging the development of eco-friendly materials. This study reports the synthesis of binary (ZnO–TiO2) and ternary (SnO2–ZnO–TiO2) compounds and their loading with Au/Ag/Pt/P noble metals (NMs) to enhance photodegradation efficiency under visible light compared to pristine TiO2. The compounds were synthesized in a single step via laser pyrolysis, and then noble metal deposition through chemical impregnation and reduction was performed. Structural and morphological analyses revealed TiO2-based nanoparticles with varied morphologies decorated with noble metal nanoparticles with sizes between 2 and 6 nm (for Pt and Pd). Photocatalytic tests demonstrated a significant improvement in Methyl Orange (MO) degradation under visible light, especially for Ag-loaded samples. The degradation rate increased from 1.03 × 10−3 min−1 (TZ) to 22.65 × 10−3 min−1 (TZS_Ag), while it was 0.09 × 10−3 min−1 for the commercial P25 sample. Biocompatibility assays indicated lower cytotoxicity than Degussa P25, with Au- and Pd-loaded samples showing improved compatibility with HaCaT and HEK293 cells. Overall, these findings demonstrate that the developed TiO2-based nanocomposites, designed through a novel and sustainable strategy combining binary/ternary heterostructures with noble metal loading, are promising candidates for efficient visible light-driven photocatalytic environmental decontamination with enhanced biological compatibility.