Photoactive Hybrid Nano Pigments

Metal semiconductors such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide have a large band gap and deemed to be inactive in the visible region of solar spectrum. However, both pigments are extremely popular in many applications including coatings, batteries, personal care products, food additives to name a few. Majority of applications require attenuation of their optical and electronic proprieties. Our presentation will showcase examples how the properties of TiO2 and ZnO can be manipulated to create novel photoactive nano pigments for solar protection and photodegradation processes. We will explore different methodologies of the fabrication including hydrothermal and sol gel synthesis, showing different strategies such as inclusions, surface modification and templating and their implication on final pigments’ properties.