Development of mesoporous carbon and iron oxide nanomaterials with advanced magnetic properties and photosensitivity under UVA-Vis radiation

Abstract

The aim of this plan is design, synthesize and characterize nanostructures based on mesoporous iron oxides, as well as mesoporous carbon supports which are used as nanoreactors for the development of iron nanospecies, in order to develop solids with specific magnetic properties and photosensitivity displaced towards the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is expected that solids with these features would be efficient in Advanced Oxidation Processes applied for degradation of organic pollutants in water (drugs or chlorophenols) through their activation with UVA-Vis radiation which promotes the generation of oxidizing radicals by a more efficient use of sunlight. There are mainly two routes for synthesizing ordered mesoporous non-siliceous oxides: "soft-templating" and "hard-templating". In the soft-templating route, the synthesis process involves the use of surfactants or co-polymers as soft templates, while in the hard molding route an ordered mesoporous matrix is used. Both methods will apply for the material’s synthesis.