Abstract
Continuous release of pollutants into water systems has been of great concern to the scientific community because it has adverse effects on living organisms and the ecosystem. Among the most common pollutants that are released into the water systems are pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs). The pollutants are introduced to environmental matrices through hospitals, industrial and domestic wastes. The class associated with personal care products are known as parabens which are endocrine disrupting compounds that have been in use for close to a century. Their release to the wastewater is in minute concentrations but known to interfere with endocrine systems.
Scientists have been able to come up with ways of actually degrading these micropollutants using various methods that include among others, ultraviolet, sonochemical and semiconductors. Among the mentioned methods, semiconductors have been commonly used for degradation of these pollutants. Among the most commonly used semiconductor is Titania (TiO2) nanomaterial with the advantage of being available and non-toxic to the environment with its limitation in absorbing UV light as opposed to visible light. This study reported the use of modified tungsten trioxide nanomaterials for the degradation of selected parabens. This was achieved by modifying tungsten trioxide using metal, semiconductor and non-metal doping. The morphological features of the as-synthesized nanomaterials were studied using the following analytical instruments XRD, SEM/EDS, UV-Vis, TGA, HRTEM, FTIR, and Raman. Further, the as-synthesized nanomaterials were employed in use of environmental and biomedical applications on the basis of their physiochemical features. Mostly the application was based on the degradation of selected parabens in synthetic and real wastewater samples and biomedical applications focusing on the toxicity of tungsten trioxide. Thus, the semiconductor for use, in both environmental and biomedical applications. The following are highlights of results obtained in Chapters 4-7...
Ph.D. (Chemistry)