Topic of Research Seminar: Preparation and Characterization of Mesoporous Microspheres for Medical and Catalytic Applications
Abstract: Hollow mesoporous silica (HMSN) and titania (TiO2) nanospheres/microspheres have been prepared through a facile template method using different templates such as polystyrene (PS) resorcinol formaldehyde (RF) microspheres, and Iron oxide (Fe3O4, Fe2O3) nanoparticles. The materials were thoroughly characterized via various techniques which confirmed the mesoporous morphology. These materials have been applied for both medical and catalytic applications. The mesoporous silica, with very high surface area, indicated pH depended and sustained release property of the adsorbed drug. Gold shells were also coated on the surface HMSN which showed absorbance in the near infra-red (NIR) region. As drug delivery system, these spheres were applied for the photothermal and chemotherapeutic treatment of HeLa cancer cells and proved to be effective against these cells. Hollow mesoporous TiO2 microspheres were prepared using PS as sacrificial templates. The prepared microspheres were impregnated with Au and RuO2 as co-catalysts. Hollow anatase spheres with Au NPs indicated enhanced harvesting of visible light and demonstrated efficient catalytic activity toward the degradation of organic dyes under the irradiation of visible light as compared to bare TiO2 spheres. Similarly, photocatalysts were applied for hydrogen generation from water splitting and that with dual co-catalysts showed efficient catalytic activity under simulated solar light. The catalytic activity of photocatalysts with both oxidation and reduction co-catalysts (Au@TiO2@RuO2) showed hydrogen evolution of 3165 µmol g-1. Magnetic mesoporous silica microspheres with single catalytic layer (Fe3O4@SiO2-Au and Fe3O4@SiO2-Au@mSiO2), double catalytic layers (Fe3O4@SiO2-Au@mSiO2-Au, Fe3O4@SiO2-Au@mSiO2-Ag) were prepared which proved to effective for the catalytic degradation of organic pollutants.
Subject Field of Topic: Chemistry
Name of Speaker: Dr. Zia Ur Rahman
Professorial Rank of Speaker: PhD in Chemistry
University Email of Speaker: [email protected]
University Profile weblink: https://www.uoswabi.edu.pk/staff/index/276
Affiliation of Speaker: Department of Chemistry, University of Swabi, Swabi, KPK
Date and Venue: March 02, 2023 at 1400 hrs, at CR 202 New Building, School of Natural Sciences (SNS), NUST Islamabad Campus