Synthesis of poly (<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide)-<i>co</i>-(acrylic acid) microgel-entrapped CdS quantum dots and their photocatalytic degradation of an organic dye

Abstract

-AAc-based microgels their ability to degrade RhB was also evaluated as a function of environmental temperature and solution pH. We showed that the removal efficiency was highest when the microgels were in their swollen state, which we attribute to more effective mass transfer of the RhB inside the microgels when their porous structure is expanded. Finally, we show that the hybrid microgels can be reused multiple times, although their photocatalytic degradation ability decreases the more they are used, which may be a result of the aggregation and decomposition of the CdSQDs. We conclude that this approach is an effective means of removing RhB from water, which may be modified to photodegrade a variety of other organic compounds.