PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF ZINC OXIDE POWDERS 82. PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF COPOLYMER/ZnO 91 CONCLUSIONS 94 BIBLIOGRAPHY 96 APPENDIX FIGURES AND TABLES 111 Ph.D ACTIVITIES 115 In recent years, nanomaterial science has gained a lot of attention to produce innovative materials with several unique applications; moreover, approaches for nanomaterial production have been studied in depth to obtain new large-scale and cost-effective methods. This thesis aims to develop and characterize composite materials based on zinc oxide nanoparticles, known for their photocatalytic properties, dispersed into a polymer matrix. These nanoparticles were synthetized using both chemical and biological routes, and the obtained products were characterized and compared through various physical-chemical techniques. Furthermore, a polymer matrix was synthesized from several components, consisting of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), dopamine (Dopa), and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), with different chemical and physical properties. This one results in a copolymer with excellent adhesion capabilities. The following thesis is divided into six chapters, which illustrate the topics covered and explain the techniques used for the synthesis of nanopowders, then describe the work carried out and discuss the results. In detail, the first chapter introduces the concept of nanotechnology, with particular interest in the development of nanoparticles and the most common applications and production techniques. The second chapter focuses on zinc oxide with a general overview of this catalyst's properties and applications. The third chapter deals with polymeric materials and their characteristics and applications. The fourth chapter highlights the potential of each characterization technique, describing materials and methods used to synthesize and characterize zinc oxide nanoparticles and the polymer matrix. Results obtained from the characterization are shown in the fifth chapter. Instead, chapter six focuses on the photocatalytic tests performed on the system materials under study.
