Polymer photodegradation initiated by ZnO nanoparticles

The photodegradation initiated by semiconductor nanoparticles in an acrylic photocurable polymer doped with p-ZnO nanoparticles has been investigated. A mechanism and formula of the photoinduced chemical reaction stimulated by primary photochemical processes of water photolysis on the surface of semiconductor ZnO nanoparticles are proposed. The mass loss in this reaction reaches 12%, which confirms the validity of photodegradation for polymer waste disposal.