Immobilization of TiO2 nanoparticles on Fe-filled carbon nanocapsules for photocatalytic applications

Using a simple sol-gel method, a novel magnetic photocatalyst was produced by immobilization of TiO₂ nano-crystal on Fe-filled carbon nanocapsules (Fe-CNC). High resolution TEM images indicated that the immobilization of TiO₂ on Fe-CNC was driven primarily by heterogeneous coagulation, whereas surface nucleation and growth was the dominant mechanism for immobilizing TiO₂ on acid-functionalized hollow CNC. The TiO₂ immobilized on Fe-CNC exhibited the anatase phase as revealed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. In comparison with free TiO₂ and TiO₂-coated CNC, TiO₂-coated Fe-CNC displayed good performance in the removal of NO gas under UV exposure. Due to the advantages of easy recycling and good photocatalytic efficiency, the novel magnetic photocatalyst developed here has potential use in photocatalytic applications for pollution prevention.     

Photocatalytic TiO2 films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering with unipolar pulsing and plasma emission control systems

TiO₂ films with thickness of about 500 nm were deposited on unheated non-alkali glass substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering using one Ti metal target with unipolar pulsed powering of 50 kHz and the plasma emission feedback system (PCU). In order to keep the very high deposition rate, the depositions were carried out in the “transition region” between the metallic and the reactive (oxide) sputter mode where the target surface was metallic and oxidized, respectively. Stable deposition was successfully carried out in the whole “transition region” with PCU at total gas pressure of 3.0 Pa. All the as-deposited films deposited in the “transition region” showed amorphous structure, which performed very low photocatalytic activity. After the post-annealing in air at higher than 300 °C, all the films crystallized to anatase polycrystalline structure. They performed both photoinduced decomposition of acetaldehyde and photoinduced hydrophilicity under UV light illumination. The highest deposition rate in this study to deposit the photocatalytic TiO₂ films in the “transition region” was 90 nm/min, which was over twenty times higher than that for conventional sputter deposition processes.     

Photocatalytic property of SiO2/TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by sol-hydrothermal process

Silica-embedded nanocrystalline TiO₂ powders were synthesized by sol-hydrothermal process. The influence of the composition of the solvent and the embedded silica content on the phase transition, grain growth and subsequently, on the photoactivity of TiO₂ were investigated. The volume ratio of ethanol to water for the solvent composition was varied from 0.125 to 8 and the mole fraction of silica content was changed from 0 to 0.4, while the condition for hydrothermal reaction was fixed at 250^∘C for 2 hour. With an increase in ethanol content in solvent composition, the crystallite sizes of pure TiO₂ particles decreased from 15 nm to 6 nm and crystal phase changed from rutile/anatase mixed phase to pure anatase phase. Addition of silica to TiO₂ brought about an increase in the photocatalytic activity by suppressing the phase transition from anatase to rutile. Judging from the result of the decomposition of 1, 4-dichlorobenzene, the most efficient catalyst was found to be 0.2 mole fraction SiO₂ embedded TiO₂ prepared with ethanol-rich solvent (the volume ratio of ethanol to water is 4).     

"光触媒"抗菌镍金属网在中央空调上的应用

本文简要叙述光触媒(TiO2)在分解有害气体、杀菌的作用机理,以及复合"光催化"抗菌泡沫镍金属网在中央空调方面的应用情况.     

Preparation of dye sensitized titanium oxide nanoparticles for solar cell applications

A new method for synthesis of titanium dioxide (TiO₂)-dye nanoparticles is reported. TiO₂ nanocrystals were obtained at 150 and 200 °C by using chemically bonded TiO₂-sensitizer dye as a precursor. Titanium tetraisopropoxide was first modified with a dye molecule and then precipitated by dropping into acidic water. A strongly colored precipitate was obtained. Hydrothermal growth of a colloidal solution was carried out in a Teflon-lined stainless steel autoclave. Dye sensitized solar cell efficiencies obtained were comparable and fill factor values were close to the analogous cells prepared by the use of conventional TiO₂ paste techniques. This method allows the use of different substrates together with nanocrystalline TiO₂ for many technological applications.     

Ultrasonic-assisted preparation of novel ternary ZnO/AgI/Ag2CrO4 nanocomposites as visible-light-driven photocatalysts with excellent activity

This work reports ultrasonic-assisted preparation of novel ternary ZnO/AgI/Ag₂CrO₄ nanocomposites as excellent visible-light-driven photocatalysts. The ZnO/AgI/Ag₂CrO₄ nanocomposite with 20% of Ag₂CrO₄ has the superior activity in degradation of rhodamine B. Activity of this nanocomposite is nearly 167, 6.5, and 45-fold higher than those of the ZnO, ZnO/AgI, and ZnO/Ag₂CrO₄ samples, respectively. The ternary nanocomposite also showed enhanced activity relative to its counterparts for degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange as two dye pollutants under visible-light irradiation. The UV–vis DRS and PL spectra confirmed that the excellent photocatalytic activities are due to more visible-light absorption ability and efficiently separation of the charge carriers. Based on the effects of different scavengers, it was found that superoxide ions are the primary reactive species to cause the degradation reaction. Furthermore, the highly enhanced activity of the ternary nanocomposite was described using a proposed mechanism.     

A facile synthesis of nano-layer structured g-C3N4 with efficient organic degradation and hydrogen evolution using a MDN energetic material as the starting precursor

The construction of a high-performance g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst through a facile and green synthesis method remains a great challenge for H₂ production and organic pollutants degradation. In this work, we developed a nano-layer structured g-C₃N₄ (NL-CN) photocatalyst with a 230 m²/g surface area via the thermal polymerization method using melaminium dinitrate (MDN), which is one of the more energetic materials, as the precursor. The energy coming from the drastic decomposition of nitrate anions in MDN caused the thick layers of bulk CN to be exfoliated to produce many much-thinner nano-layers when at 500 °C for 2 h, which obviously elevated the surface area of the g-C₃N₄. The resultant NL-CN displays a superior visible-light H₂-generation and rhodamine B (RhB) photodegradation efficiency (λ > 420 nm) compared to those of bulk g-C₃N₄ (CN) prepared through heating melamine because of the nano-layered structures, which lead to higher specific surface areas, a rapid charge transfer efficiency and a higher redox potential. These results demonstrate that the utilization of MDN as a starting material provides a new opportunity for the facile and green synthesis of high-efficiency nanostructured g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts with lower energy consumption and environmental pollution levels.     

高效光催化分解水产氢Ni2P/Cd0.5Zn0.5S复合材料的共催化效应

采用沉淀-水热法和低温热磷化法分别制备了Cd0.5Zn0.5S纳米颗粒和Ni2P纳米片，利用超声空化效应合成了价格低廉、分散良好、高效的非贵金属磷化物助催化的Ni2P/Cd0.5Zn0.5S复合材料。通过XRD、SEM、UV-vis、PL以及电化学测试等手段进行了表征测试。以Na2S-Na2SO3为牺牲剂，在可见光(λ ≥ 420 nm)照射下对样品的光催化分解水产氢性能进行评价。结果表明，Ni2P显著提高了Cd0.5Zn0.5S的光催化产氢活性。当Ni2P含量为10 wt%时，复合材料的光催化产氢速率达到19133 μmol?g-1?h-1，为Cd0.5Zn0.5S产氢速率(7865 μmol?g-1?h-1)的2.4倍，且七次光催化循环实验后的产氢速率仍为初始值的91%。这可以归因于复合材料在具有更好的光吸收性能和较低的禁带宽度的同时，Ni2P为Cd0.5Zn0.5S提供的活性中心和界面效应有效地促进了光生载流子的有效分离和快速迁移。     

Visible-light-responsive γ-Fe2O3/PMMA/S-TiO2 core/shell nanocomposite: Preparation,characterization and photocatalytic activity

Organic-inorganic composite materials have demonstrated many potential applications in environmental field. This paper presented a facile preparation method for γ-Fe₂O₃/PMMA/S-TiO₂ nanocomposite with core-shell structure and its application in degradation of phenanthrene under visible light irradiation. Firstly, γ-Fe₂O₃/PMMA nanoparticles were synthesized by the modified-suspension-polymerization method. Then γ-Fe₂O₃/PMMA/S-TiO₂ core-shell nanocomposites were prepared by adding as-synthesized γ-Fe₂O₃/PMMA nanoparticles into the sol solution formed by sol-gel method using tetrabutyltitanate as Ti source and thiourea as sulfur source. The characterization result of the obtained products by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that the layer of sulfur doped titania was successfully coated onto the surface of γ-Fe₂O₃/PMMA nanoparticles. Thermogravimetry (TG) analysis presented that the layer of sulfur doped TiO₂ could efficiently reduce the decomposition of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) even at higher temperature up to 500 °C. UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy showed that γ-Fe₂O₃/PMMA/S-TiO₂ nanocomposite clearly exhibits the red-shift of the absorption edge compared with γ-Fe₂O₃/PMMA/TiO_2. The photocatalytic activity evaluation showed that the γ-Fe₂O₃/PMMA/S-TiO₂ nanocomposite exhibited the best photocatalytic activity for degradation of phenanthrene under the conditions of 0.8 mol% of sulfur doping, calcination temperature at 300 °C and the addition concentration of 1.0 g/L. Moreover, the nanocomposites have good recovery ability by the recovery experiment.     

0D/3D ZnIn2S4/Ag6Si2O7 nanocomposite with direct Z-scheme heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic H2 evolution under visible light

Constructing heterojunction structure is a feasible way to realize an efficient and durable photocatalysts. Herein, a novel Z-scheme zero/three dimensional (0D/3D) ZnIn₂S₄/Ag₆Si₂O₇ (ZIS/ASO) composite was rationally designed, synthesized and analyzed. ZIS/ASO composite possesses a layer structure for increasing light response, a special 0D/3D structure for reducing the photo-induce carriers migration path, and numerous active sites for absorbing H₂O and producing H₂. This composite retains the high oxidation and reduction ability by facilitating separation and migration as well as limiting recombination of photo-induced carriers via the intimate interface between ZIS and ASO. Undoubtedly, the synthesized ZIS/ASO photocatalyst achieved a high photocatalytic H₂ activity, and the optimum sample shows a satisfactory H₂ evolution rate of 590.56 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, distinctly better than that of pure ZIS. More importantly, this composite exhibits high stability and recyclability and is expected to be applied in practical application. Based on the H₂ evolution experimental results and electrochemical tests, the Z-scheme heterostructure construction of the composite was confirmed. This work expects to inspire a unique protocol for synthesizing Z-scheme photocatalysts for water splitting under visible light irradiation.