Chemically modified novel PAMAM-ZnO nanocomposite: Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activity

•Nanocomposite of ZnO with poly(amido amine) dendrimer was chemically prepared.•The reaction was performed through glycidoxypropyltrimethoxy silane as a binder.•Nanocomposite effectively photodegraded naphthol blue black.•The photocatalytic activity for an azo dye was highly influenced by solution pH.•The dendrimer-ZnO nanocomposite catalyst was reusable.

In this paper, for the first time, chemically modified dendrimer-ZnO nanocomposite was prepared and used for the photodegradation of an azo dye naphthol blue black (NBB) under UV light. Initially, ZnO was prepared by simple physical grinding of zinc acetate with sodium hydroxide under solvent free condition. The chemical modification of ZnO was carried out by binding poly(amido amine) (PAMAM) dendrimer through glycidoxypropyltrimethoxy silane as a binding agent. The formation of rod like dendrimer-ZnO nanocomposite was confirmed by different characterization techniques. The photocatalytic activity was highly influenced by initial pH of dye solutions. This catalyst was reusable.

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