STUDY OF SEMICONDUCTOR PHOTOCATALYSED OXIDATION OF TARTRONIC ACID USED AS COSMETIC AND HYPOGLYCEMIC ACTION

Pushkar Raj Meena*

ABSTRACT

Heterogeneous catalysts have become a crucial part of many industrial activities, such as organic synthesis, oil refining, and pollution control.[1-5] TiO2 has proven to be one of the promising n-type semiconductors due to its wide band gap (3.2 eV) under ultraviolet light.[6-8] TiO2 also, due to its non-toxicity, long term photo stability, and high effectiveness, has been widely utilized in mineralizing toxic and non-biodegradable environmental contaminants as well as the novel organic synthesis.[9,10] Tartronic acid is much more efficient at removing dissolved oxygen than the conventional treatments, without increasing the corrosivity of the system.[11] Tartronic acid can be found in potato, a potential biomarker for the consumption of these food products.[12] As a food additive[16-18], TiO2 (titanium dioxide) is approved for use in various countries like EU, USA, Australia and New Zealand; it is listed by INS number 270 or E number E-270. In the present part of study, it is planned to investigate photo-oxidation of tartronic acid (hydroxyl-propandioic acid) by semiconductor sensitized in visible light and the photoproduct was mesoxalic acid. From the fact that the use of insulin in combination with mesoxalic acid produced more marked effect, it is presumed this drug enhances the activity of insulin. These hydroxyacids can be able to reverse some of the damage caused by photo aging, but at the same time they make the skin more susceptible to photo aging. Several aspects concerning the mechanism of action of alpha hydroxyacids are still unknown. The toxic nature of photoproduct and safety parameter is still unknown of mesoxalic acid. It is therefore planed to investigate photo-oxidation of tartronic acid by semiconductors. Hence, this part of reported work may help to arouse the interdisciplinary interest about the side effects of photoproducts, where these are being used.

Keywords: Semiconductor, Titanium dioxide, Photo-oxidation, Tartronic acid, mesoxalic acid.