Zinc(II) 2,9,16,23-tetrakis[4-(N-methylpyridyloxy)]-phthalocyanine anchored on an electrospun polysulfone polymer fiber: Application for photosensitized conversion of methyl orange

In this work, a comparative study of photodegradation of methyl orange, an azo dye, in homogeneous aqueous solution of a quarternized cationic zinc phthalocyanine and a heterogeneous catalytic system based on the same phthalocyanine anchored on polysulfone polymer fiber is presented. In both cases, conversion involved the azo bond of the dye with no detectable opening up of the aromatic benzene rings. The reaction kinetics in both cases were consistent with first order with the conversion occurring in the homogeneous system being faster than when the functionalized polymer fiber was used. The reaction products consisted of a coupling product as well as a series of oligopolymeric products.

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► Electrospun fiber functionalized with a zinc phthalocyanine is reported.
► The functionalized fiber generated singlet oxygen.
► Singlet oxygen was used for the phototransformation of methyl orange.
► The products of the phototransformation are polymeric.