Shivaji University

About: Shivaji University is a education organization based out in Kolhāpur, Maharashtra, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Thin film & Scanning electron microscope. The organization has 3078 authors who have published 5295 publications receiving 115397 citations.

Photoelectrocatalytic decolorization and degradation of textile effluent using ZnO thin films

Abstract: Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have been successfully deposited onto fluorine doped tin oxide coated glass at substrate temperature of 400 °C and used as electrode in photoelectrocatalytic reactor. The untreated textile effluent was circulated through photoelectrocatalytic reactor under UVA illumination for the decolorization and degradation. Textile effluent was decolorized by 93% within 3h at room temperature with significant reduction in COD (69%). High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis of samples before and after decolorization confirmed the degradation of dyes molecules from textile effluent into simpler oxidizable products. Phytotoxicity study revealed reduction in toxic nature of textile effluent after treatment.

Synthesis and Characterization of Hydrophobic Silica Aerogels Using Trimethylethoxysilane as a Co-Precursor

Abstract: The hydrophobic property is one of the most important requirements for the long-term use of silica aerogels for transparent or translucent window insulation and opaque thermal insulating systems. Therefore, the present paper deals with the synthesis and characterization of hydrophobic silica aerogels using trimethylethoxysilane (TMES) as a co-precursor. Silica sol was prepared by keeping the molar ratio of tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) precursor, methanol (MeOH) solvent, water (H2O) and ammonia (NH4OH) catalyst constant at 1:12:4:3.7 × 10−3 respectively throughout the experiments and the TMES/TMOS molar ratio (A) was varied from 0 to 2.35. The resulting silica alcogels were dried supercritically by high-temperature alcohol solvent extraction. Hydrophobicity of the aerogels was tested by measuring the percentage of water adsorbed by the aerogels after putting them directly on the surface of water under humid conditions. Alternately, the hydrophobicity was also tested by contact angle measurements. It was found that as the A value increased, the hydrophobicity of the aerogels increased but the optical transmission decreased from 93% to less than 5% in the visible range. The thermal stability of the aerogels was studied in the temperature range from 25 to 400°C. The hydrophobic nature of the aerogels was maintained up to a temperature of 300°C. The aerogels were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, optical transmittance, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and contact angle measurements. The results have been discussed by taking into account the hydrolysis and condensation mechanisms.