Stage 2018:

In the first stage of the project, the following activities were carried out:

Activity 1.1. Synthesis of ZnO particles with different shapes and sizes
synthesis of ZnO starting from zinc acetate, zinc nitrate or other zinc salts;
variation of shapes and sizes by modifying the synthesis protocol: time, temperature, solvent etc.

Activity 1.2. Doping of ZnO particles with metals
doping ZnO with Sn;
doping with Ag;
doping with Cu or other metals.

Activity 1.3. Characterization of the obtained particles
particle characterization by ESEM/EDX, XRD techniques;
characterization of particles by TEM or Raman microscopy to evaluate/confirm their size, shape and purity.

Activity 1.4. Synthesis of (meth) acrylic monomers
synthesis of monomers starting from 2-isocyanatoethyl methacrylate;
synthesis of (meth) acrylic monomers by conventional addition reaction or by acylation;
other monomers will be obtained from commercial sources.

Results
The synthesis of ZnO micro-/nanoparticles of various shapes and sizes have been successfully performed.
A method has been developed for doping ZnO particles with different metals, in this case with Sn, Ag and Cu.
Simple and doped ZnO particles were characterized by ESEM/EDX, XRD, UV-vis spectroscopy, TEM and Raman microscopy to assess/confirm their size, shape and purity.
Two (meth) acrylic monomers were synthesized and their structure was confirmed by 1H NMR and FTIR spectral techniques.

The scientific results were disseminated as two oral presentations and a poster:

Poster
1. Synthesis of new materials containing ZnO doped particles for purification of waste waters, Viorica-Elena Podasca, Mariana-Dana Damaceanu, 1st International conference on Nanotechnologies and Bionanoscience (NanoBio 2018), 24-28 September 2018. Heraklion City, Crete, Greece.
- Program NanoBio 2018

Oral presentation
1. Synthesis of hybrid composites containing ZnO doped particules for photocatalysis applications, Viorica-Elena Podasca, Mariana-Dana Damaceanu, a XXXV-a Conferinta Nationala de Chimie, 02-05 octombrie 2018, Caciulata, Valcea, Romania.
- Program CNC 2018
2. Photocatalytic degradation of Malachite green dye under visible light using polymeric films containing synthesized ZnO and ZnO-SnO2 particles, Viorica-Elena Podasca, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University Days, Faculty of Chemistry Conference IasiCHEM, 25-26 October 2018, Iasi, Romania.
- Program ZU 2018