A Super Hydrophilic Material for Self-Cleaning by Cold Plasma of Zinc Selenite Nanostructure

Abstract

This research is devoted to the fabrication of zinc selenide nanostructures using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique in a vacuum under a pressure of [Formula: see text] mbar. The structure and structural properties were studied, as it was observed that it had polycrystalline structures and showed peaks for zinc and selenium and peaks belonging to the compound zinc selenide. As for the morphological characteristics of the nanostructures, the structures showed the nature of the surface and the roughness to identify its surface properties. Photocatalysis was carried out using several techniques (visible light, ultraviolet radiation and cold plasma), where a plasma jet system produced under normal atmospheric pressure was used in the treatment, with an exposure time of 4[Formula: see text]min and an argon gas flow rate of 3[Formula: see text]l/min. The hydrophilic properties were studied to apply these compositions in the self-cleaning process and photocatalytic activity. The results show that the ZnSe nanostructures have high wettability under UV light which has been shown to have excellent catalysis in the UV region, making its application as a self-cleaning material an attractive option.