PbS-NiO nanocomposite material with enhanced magnetic, photocatalytic and antifungal properties

[Display omitted] •PbS, NiO and PbS-NiO nanocomposites were synthesized by a cost effective soft chemical route.•Photocatalytic activity of pure PbS got enhanced when coupled with NiO.•The composite showed enhanced antifungal efficiency compared to that of pure PbS and NiO. PbS, NiO and PbS-NiO nano...

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Published inMaterials science & engineering. B, Solid-state materials for advanced technology Vol. 229; pp. 118 - 125
Main Authors Suganya, M., Balu, A.R., Anitha, S., Prabha, D., Balamurugan, S., Priyanka, B., Srivind, J., Nagarethinam, V.S.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Lausanne Elsevier B.V 01.03.2018
Elsevier BV
Subjects
Catalysis
Chemical synthesis
Composite materials
Decoloring
Dyes
Efficiency
Fungicides
Heterojunctions
Lead sulfides
Magnetic properties
Magnetisation
Nanocomposites
Nanostructured materials
Nickel oxides
Photocatalysis
Photodegradation
Reaction time
Thermal analysis
Composite materials
Catalysis
Thermal analysis
Nanostructured materials
Magnetisation
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Summary:[Display omitted] •PbS, NiO and PbS-NiO nanocomposites were synthesized by a cost effective soft chemical route.•Photocatalytic activity of pure PbS got enhanced when coupled with NiO.•The composite showed enhanced antifungal efficiency compared to that of pure PbS and NiO. PbS, NiO and PbS-NiO nanocomposites were synthesized by a cost effective chemical route and characterized by techniques like TG-DTA, XRD, SEM, TEM, EDX, FTIR and PL. XRD studies reveal the presence of diffraction peaks related to PbS and NiO in the composite. The visible light photocatalytic tests showed that the PbS-NiO nanocomposite had better photocatalytic activities for the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) compared to that of pure PbS and NiO nanopowders. Within 210 min of reaction time, nearly 89% decolorization efficiency of MO was achieved by the PbS-NiO photocatalyst, which is higher than that of pure PbS and NiO. The high photocatalytic efficiency of the composite was due to the extended photoresponse range and efficient separation of the electron-hole pairs in the PbS-NiO heterojunction. In addition, the composite also possess excellent antifungal efficiency against A. niger fungus strain. Enhanced magnetic properties were observed for the composite.
ISSN:0921-5107
1873-4944
DOI:10.1016/j.mseb.2017.12.031