Abstract Zinc oxide is one of the most widely used semiconductors, thanks to its shallow band-gap of 3.3 eV, low cost, inertness, and abundance in nature. On the other hand, poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a common thermoplastic material used in many applications namely because of its transparency, environmental stability, and low cost. The realization of novel inorganic/polymeric hybrid nanomaterials is appealing, being beneficial in a variety of applications including photocatalysis, sensing, energy harvesting and storage, and optoelectronics, but also challenging. In this work, ZnO and PMMA were combined using the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. The morphology of the samples was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the crystallinity has been investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. In order to give a proof of concept of a possible application of the materials synthetized, the photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposites has been tested by the degradation of two organic pollutants in water: methylene blue (MB) dye and sodium lauryl sulfate (SDS), an anionic surfactant. The results have shown that all samples are active in the removal of both pollutants (i.e., MB and SDS), opening the route for the application of the proposed nanocomposites in water treatment.

中文翻译：

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通过低温原子层沉积合成 ZnO/PMMA 纳米复合材料，用于可能的光催化应用

摘要 氧化锌是应用最广泛的半导体之一，由于其带隙为 3.3 eV，成本低，惰性和自然界丰富。另一方面，聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯 (PMMA) 是一种常见的热塑性材料，用于许多应用，这是因为它具有透明性、环境稳定性和低成本。新型无机/聚合物杂化纳米材料的实现很有吸引力，有利于光催化、传感、能量收集和存储以及光电子等各种应用，但也具有挑战性。在这项工作中，使用原子层沉积 (ALD) 技术将 ZnO 和 PMMA 结合起来。通过扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 评估样品的形态，同时使用 X 射线衍射 (XRD) 分析研究结晶度。为了证明合成材料的可能应用的概念，纳米复合材料的光催化活性已通过降解水中的两种有机污染物：亚甲蓝 (MB) 染料和十二烷基硫酸钠 (SDS) 进行测试，阴离子表面活性剂。结果表明，所有样品均能有效去除两种污染物（即 MB 和 SDS），为所提出的纳米复合材料在水处理中的应用开辟了道路。