Chemometrics investigation of the light-free degradation of methyl green and malachite green by starch-coated CdSe quantum dots

Abstract

Starch-coated CdSe quantum dots were synthesized and utilized as a photocatalyst for degradation of Methyl Green (MG) in ambient condition. Very low quantities of photocatalyst found to be capable of significantly decolorize large amount of MG (ratio of MG to photocatalyst 1000:1) within a few minutes in pH neutral. Simple UV/vis spectroscopy measurements was coupled with multivariate curve resolution–alternative least-squares (MCR–ALS) to present a new paradigm in employing MCR–ALS technique for studying reaction kinetic. Five chemical components were detected for decomposition of MG using factor analysis (FA) and concentration profiles and pure spectra of detected components were resolved using MCR–ALS.