Patents

Semiconductor-Oxides nanotubes-based composite particles useful for dye-removal and the process thereof have been described in this invention, which relates to an innovative method involving an ion-exchange mechanism operating under the dark condition in an aqueous solution for the processing of innovative products consisting of the nanotubes of semiconductor-oxides deposited on (or anchored to or attached to) the surface of fly ash particles and metal-oxide (magnetic and non-magnetic) nanoparticles. The resulting micro-nano and nano-nano integrated composite particles find potential application in the removal of an organic synthetic dye from an aqueous solution and industry effluent via the surface-adsorption process, involving the ion-exchange and electrostatic-attraction mechanisms, operating in the dark-condition. The novel composite particles can be recycled for the next cycle of dye adsorption by decomposing the previously adsorbed dye on their surfaces via an innovative approach involving the use of either noble-metal-deposited photocatalyst or a magnetically separable magnetic photocatalyst and exposure to the ultraviolet (UV) or solar-radiation.