Stable gallium oxide@ silica/polyvinyl pyrrolidone hybrid nanofluids: Preparation, characterization, and photo-activity toward removal of malachite green dye

The aim of this research is to investigate the stability of β-Ga2O3 fluids by utilizing the polyvinyl pyrrolidone polymer (PVP) and silica/polyvinyl pyrrolidone nanofluids (SNF) as stabilizers. Nanofluids with 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1 wt% β-Ga2O3 loadings nanoparticles were prepared using a two-step method. Ultrasonic processing was applied to allow the homogeneity and to increase the stability of the prepared samples. Several characterization techniques were adopted to visualize the stability and turbidity rate of the prepared nanofluids viz., UV-vis spectrometry, particle size distribution, Zeta potential, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results revealed that nanofluids β-Ga2O3/SNF are the most stable suspension within 5 days. In addition, the photo-catalytic activity of nanofluids was examined using Malecite green dye (MG) as the hazardous compound. It was found that the β-Ga2O3/SNF nanofluids exhibited higher catalytic efficiency for this reaction. The apparent 1st order for photo-degradation of MG dye was 0.0176 min−1 using 0.025 β-Ga2O3/SNF nanofluids.