Azo dyes are widely used in color and textile industries due to their high mechanical and thermal stability and they are applied in pharmaceutics as drug carriers.
According to Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council (INIC), the Iranian researchers succeeded in the laboratorial production of quantum dots made of graphene as catalysts to produce azo dyes. The produced nanocatalyst showed appropriate performance in increasing the efficiency of the production of azo dye compounds.
Modified graphene quantum dots have been used in this research as nanocatalyst to synthesize azo dyes. According to the results, the use of the nanostructure optimizes the production method to produce azo compounds. In fact, much higher efficiency has been obtained in the production of the product in shorter time by spending the minimum of cost.
The first step in the synthesis of azo dyes is the conversion of amine compounds into diazonium salts. Graphene quantum dots produced in this research are used as the source of nitozonium to be used in this step. Therefore, the process of the production of azo dyes does not require sodium nitrite any more, which is a very toxic compound.
In summary, the synthesis and evaluation of the nanostructures have been designed on the basis of green chemistry, and all processes have been carried out based on spending less time to obtain high-efficient products without harming the environment.
Results of the research have been published in Dyes and Pigments, vol. 113, 2015, pp. 522-528.
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