Kelvin probe force microscopy work function characterization of transition metal oxide crystals under ongoing reduction and oxidation

• Dominik Wrana,
• Karol Cieślik,
• Wojciech Belza,
• Christian Rodenbücher,
• Krzysztof Szot and
• Franciszek Krok

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1596–1607, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.155

• strong response to gaseous pressures, especially oxygen and water [45]. The tool of choice that provides information on the subtle changes in the work function is KPFM, which has been employed for research on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2-based doped and undoped nanofibers [46][47] and for the

Direct observation of oxygen-vacancy formation and structural changes in Bi₂WO₆ nanoflakes induced by electron irradiation

• Hong-long Shi,
• Bin Zou,
• Zi-an Li,
• Min-ting Luo and
• Wen-zhong Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1434–1442, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.141

• be induced by chemical doping [18][19], hydrogen reduction [16] or ultra-thinning [14][20]. Surface oxygen vacancies can efficiently separate photogenerated electron–hole pairs, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic activity. Bismuth defects or dangling bonds of bismuth atoms resulting from oxygen

• Figure 1c) was frequently encountered and its intensity is enhanced during the routine TEM observation, accompanied by the appearance of dark precipitates on the surface of nanoflakes. This suggests that the as-synthesized Bi2WO6 nanoflakes are sensitive to the electron beam. The photocatalytic activity

• (condenser lens aperture) opening of 70 μm. Experiments of photocatalytic activity The photocatalytic activity of the samples was determined by measuring the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible-light irradiation using a 300 W Xe lamp with a 420 nm cut-off filter. In the experiment, 40 mg Bi2WO6

BiOCl/TiO₂/diatomite composites with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B

• Minlin Ao,
• Kun Liu,
• Xuekun Tang,
• Zishun Li,
• Qian Peng and
• Jing Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1412–1422, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.139

• alone. When the molar ratio of BiOCl to TiO2 is 1:1 and the calcination temperature is 400 °C, the composite was found to exhibit the best catalytic effect. Through the study of the photocatalytic mechanism, it is shown that the strong visible-light photocatalytic activity of the BTD composite results

• organic pollutant degradation [15]. However, according to previous studies, one limitation to its photocatalytic activity is that the photocatalytic process mainly occurs on the surface of the photocatalyst, which is a problem because the TiO2 nanoparticles readily agglomerate [10]. According to the

• it to respond mainly to ultraviolet light. Over decades, the BiOCl/TiO2 heterostructure has been studied successfully and shows higher photocatalytic activity [28], which inspired us to load BiOCl onto the well-dispersed TiO2 to improve the TiO2/diatomite composite. In this paper, we report a novel

Construction of a 0D/1D composite based on Au nanoparticles/CuBi₂O₄ microrods for efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

• Weilong Shi,
• Mingyang Li,
• Hongji Ren,
• Feng Guo,
• Xiliu Huang,
• Yu Shi and
• Yubin Tang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1360–1367, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.134

• materials promotes the dispersion and stability of 0D nanomaterials. Among the noble metal NPs, Au is considered to be one of the most promising materials because of its high photocatalytic activity, low toxicity and good biocompatibility [23][24][25]. In addition, size, shape and environment of the Au NPs

• rationally designed and prepared by a facile in situ thermal reduction–precipitation method. The fabricated Au/CBO composites showed a higher photocatalytic activity in the removal of a typical antibiotic (tetracycline, TC, 10 mg/L) under visible-light irradiation (λ > 420 nm) than pristine CBO. Furthermore

• , a series of characterizations were conducted to explore the enhanced photocatalytic activity of 0D/1D Au/CBO composites in detail. Experimental Rod-like CuBi2O4 (CBO) was synthesized through a hydrothermal route. Typically, Bi(NO3)3·5H2O (1.358 g), Cu(NO3)3·3H2O (0.668 g) and NaOH (1.68 g) were

A highly efficient porous rod-like Ce-doped ZnO photocatalyst for the degradation of dye contaminants in water

• Binjing Hu,
• Qiang Sun,
• Chengyi Zuo,
• Yunxin Pei,
• Siwei Yang,
• Hui Zheng and
• Fangming Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1157–1165, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.115

• rods and optimal synthesis conditions were determined by testing samples with different Ce/ZnO molar ratios calcined at 500 °C for 3 hours via a one-step pyrolysis method. The photocatalytic activity was assessed by the degradation of a common dye pollutant found in wastewater, rhodamine B (RhB), using

• to improve its photocatalytic activity by modifying its surface morphology [10][11]. Wang et al. [12] prepared Ce-doped ZnO with different doping levels by using a one-step solution method, using methylene blue as the target pollutant for photodegradation. After exposure to light for 200 minutes, the

• pure ZnO achieved a degradation rate of 48.36% whereas 1% Ce/ZnO exhibited the best activity among the as-synthesized products (96.11%). It was found that a moderate amount of cerium doping can significantly improve the photocatalytic activity of ZnO. It was hypothesized that when cerium is mixed with

Photoactive nanoarchitectures based on clays incorporating TiO₂ and ZnO nanoparticles

• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Marwa Akkari,
• Nithima Khaorapapong and
• Makoto Ogawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1140–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.114

• work is to summarize and critically discuss the different experimental options in the use of TiO2 and ZnO NPs, assembled with clay minerals and related solids, emphasizing on their structural and textural characteristics in relation to their photocatalytic activity. Synthetic strategies for the

• [8][10][11]. A useful strategy to enhance the photocatalytic activity of metal-oxide NPs considered here consists in their distribution as homogenously as possible on the surface of clay minerals acting as supports and provided with large specific area and porosity. Among the clay materials (Figure 1

• ][105][106][107][108], as well as fibrous silicates such as sepiolite and palygorskite [109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116] have been also assembled with TiO2 NPs yielding various clay-based nanoarchitectures with photocatalytic activity (Table 1). For instance, a method to develop TiO2@hectorite as

Synthesis of novel C-doped g-C₃N₄ nanosheets coupled with CdIn₂S₄ for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

• Jingshuai Chen,
• Chang-Jie Mao,
• Helin Niu and
• Ji-Ming Song

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 912–921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.92

• photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4 is severely restricted by the inefficient separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and insufficient photon absorption. Up to now, a variety of strategies such as anion doping, novel metal deposition on surfaces and the design of heterojunctions/nanocomposites have been

• , Huang et al. fabricated self-doped C-atom g-C3N4 via self-assembly, which exhibited highly efficient photocatalytic activity of H2 evolution under visible-light irradiation [22]. Moreover, the construction of a heterojunction composite is an effective approach to facilitate the separation of

• transfer nanochannels [5]. The as-prepared g-C3N4 nanosheet@ZnIn2S4 nanoleaf structure displays an enhanced photocatalytic activity for H2 production without the addition of a Pt co-catalyst. As visible-light-active photocatalysts, ternary metal sulfide (e.g., ZnIn2S4 and CdIn2S4) have attracted great

Deposition of metal particles onto semiconductor nanorods using an ionic liquid

• Michael D. Ballentine,
• Elizabeth G. Embry,
• Marco A. Garcia and
• Lawrence J. Hill

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 718–724, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.71

• photocatalytic activity for tol-NR and IL-NR. a) Dye degradation experiments conducted in chloroform. b) Dye degradation experiments conducted in [bmim][Tf2N]. The control in both cases shows dye degradation without a catalyst present. All data points have error bars representing the standard deviation of three

Impact of the anodization time on the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ nanotubes

• Jesús A. Díaz-Real,
• Geyla C. Dubed-Bandomo,
• Juan Galindo-de-la-Rosa,
• Luis G. Arriaga,
• Janet Ledesma-García and
• Nicolas Alonso-Vante

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2628–2643, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.244

• length, fluorine content, and capacitance of the space charge region increased, affecting the opto-electronic properties (bandgap, bathochromic shift, band-edge position) and surface hydrophilicity of TiO2 NTs. These properties are at the origin of the photocatalytic activity (PCA), as proved with the

• photooxidation of methylene blue. Keywords: fluorine doping; nanotubes; photocatalytic activity; photoelectrochemistry; titanium(IV) oxide (TiO2); Introduction TiO2 started to attract great interest after Fujishima and Honda reported [1] on its photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties in 1972. Numerous features

• ] observed that a water-based electrolyte containing NH4F induced a co-doping with F and N in the TNTs. Their study suggested that a combination of applied potential and annealing temperature were responsible for the high photocatalytic activity (PCA) of their materials in the oxidation of methyl orange. In

Nanocellulose: Recent advances and its prospects in environmental remediation

• Katrina Pui Yee Shak,
• Yean Ling Pang and
• Shee Keat Mah

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2479–2498, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.232

• ]. Although cellulose alone exhibits limited photocatalytic activity under UV or visible light irradiation, many semiconductor materials have been added to enhance the photocatalytic activity. Several research groups have demonstrated photocatalytic wastewater treatment using cellulose-based metal oxide

Hierarchical heterostructures of Bi₂MoO₆ microflowers decorated with Ag₂CO₃ nanoparticles for efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic removal of toxic pollutants

• Shijie Li,
• Wei Jiang,
• Shiwei Hu,
• Yu Liu,
• Yanping Liu,
• Kaibing Xu and
• Jianshe Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2297–2305, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.214

• photocatalytic activity [37]. However, it is unstable under illumination. Previous studies found that the good stability of Ag2CO3 could be achieved through the rational construction of heterojunctions, such as Ag2CO3/Bi2WO6 [37], Ag2O/Ag2CO3 [38], Ag2CO3/Bi2O2CO3 [39], Ag2CO3/C3N4 [40], Ag/Ag2CO3/BiVO4 [41

• ] Ag2CO3/AgBr/ZnO [42], and Ag/Ag2CO3/Bi2MoO6 [32]. The band structure of Ag2CO3 matches well with that of Bi2MoO6 [32]. Moreover, morphology modulation is another significant way to enhance photocatalytic activity. Three-dimensional nanostructures endow materials with unique physicochemical properties

• as a function of the time. Again, ACO/BMO-30 displayed the highest activity, with degradation efficiencies of 94.9% for MO, 100% for MB, and 78.9% for TC. The photocatalytic activity in the degradation of TC of ACO/BMO-30 was further compared with that of Ag/Ag2CO3/Bi2MoO6 [32], and of Ag2MoO4

A visible-light-controlled platform for prolonged drug release based on Ag-doped TiO₂ nanotubes with a hydrophobic layer

• Caihong Liang,
• Jiang Wen and
• Xiaoming Liao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1793–1801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.170

• -layer titania nanotubes (TNTs) fabricated using by an in situ voltage up-anodization process. The visible-light photocatalytic activity is improved by loading Ag onto the TNTs by NaBH4 reduction. Then, the TNTs containing Ag nanoparticles were modified with dodecanethiol (NDM) to create a hydrophobic

Controllable one-pot synthesis of uniform colloidal TiO₂ particles in a mixed solvent solution for photocatalysis

• Jong Tae Moon,
• Seung Ki Lee and
• Ji Bong Joo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1715–1727, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.163

• phase or high crystallinity are essential. Highly crystallized TiO2 is generally considered to not only reduce the recombination of electron–hole pairs, but to also extend the lifetime of photogenerated charges that result in the enhancement of photocatalytic activity [7]. During photocatalysis, it is

• surface and prevent surface reactions, and in turn, hamper the photocatalytic activity [25]. In order to address the above issues, TiO2 photocatalysts are often synthesized in the form of a porous colloidal particle in sub-micrometer dimensions [8][26][27]. They can be calcined at high temperature, which

• , large surface area, uniform photocatalytic activity for each particle, and improved accessibility for the reactant molecules. To fabricate the uniform, colloidal TiO2 spheres, several synthetic methods have been reported including hydrothermal, solvothermal, and sol–gel processes [10][26][28][29

Sulfur-, nitrogen- and platinum-doped titania thin films with high catalytic efficiency under visible-light illumination

• Boštjan Žener,
• Lev Matoh,
• Giorgio Carraro,
• Bojan Miljević and
• Romana Cerc Korošec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1629–1640, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.155

• , band gap measurements). The photocatalytic activity of the prepared thin films was determined by measuring the degradation rate of plasmocorinth B (PB), an organic pigment used in the textile industry, which can pose an environmental risk when expelled into wastewater. A kinetic model for adsorption

• and subsequent degradation was used to fit the experimental data. The results have shown an increase in photocatalytic activity under visible-light illumination of nonmetal and metal doped and co-doped titania thin films compared to an undoped sample. Keywords: doping; photocatalysis; sol–gel

• environmental applications, such as water treatment [9][10][11] and air purification [12]. One of the important factors affecting the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 is its specific surface area. By increasing the specific surface area (porosity) of TiO2, the photocatalytic activity can be increased. One of the

Sheet-on-belt branched TiO₂(B)/rGO powders with enhanced photocatalytic activity

• Huan Xing,
• Wei Wen and
• Jin-Ming Wu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1550–1557, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.146

• TiO2(B) is usually adopted to construct phase junctions with anatase TiO2 for applications in photocatalysis to facilitate charge separation; its intrinsic photocatalytic activity, especially when in the form of one- or three-dimensional nanostructures, has been rarely reported. In this study, a sheet

• assist the photodegradation of phenol in water under UV light illumination. The enhanced photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the significantly increased surface area and enhanced charge separation. Keywords: branched nanostructure; photocatalysis; reduced graphene oxide; TiO2(B); Introduction

• safety and rate capability [11][17][18][19][20]. For photocatalytic applications, TiO2(B) is usually combined with anatase TiO2 to construct a multiphase heterostructure to enhance charge separation and in turn the photocatalytic activity [21][22][23][24][25]. For example, Yang et al. synthesized anatase

Cr(VI) remediation from aqueous environment through modified-TiO₂-mediated photocatalytic reduction

• Rashmi Acharya,
• Brundabana Naik and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1448–1470, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.137

• TiO2 as a photocatalyst and the importance of its modification for photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) has also been addressed. In this review, the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 after modification with carbon-based advanced materials, metal oxides, metal sulfides and noble metals towards reduction of

• Cr(VI) was evaluated and compared with that of bare TiO2. The photoactivity of dye-sensitized TiO2 for reduction of Cr(VI) was also discussed. The mechanism for enhanced photocatalytic activity was highlighted and attributed to the resultant properties, namely, effective separation of photoinduced

• with carbon-based advanced materials, noble metals, oxides and sulfides of transition metals for enhanced photocatalytic activity towards degradation of Cr(VI). The photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) over dye-sensitized TiO2 is also briefly discussed. The present review article has been divided into

Ag₂WO₄ nanorods decorated with AgI nanoparticles: Novel and efficient visible-light-driven photocatalysts for the degradation of water pollutants

• Shijie Li,
• Shiwei Hu,
• Wei Jiang,
• Yanping Liu,
• Yu Liu,
• Yingtang Zhou,
• Liuye Mo and
• Jianshe Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1308–1316, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.123

• photocatalytic performance for dye degradation under light irradiation [30][31][36][37]. Unfortunately, due to its wide bandgap of about 3.1 eV, Ag2WO4 has limited photocatalytic activity under sunlight, which severely limits its application and illustrates the urgency for optimization of Ag2WO4 to overcome

• nanorods as the Ag source. The as-prepared AgI/Ag2WO4 heterojunctions exhibited remarkably higher photocatalytic activity than pure Ag2WO4 toward the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), methyl orange (MO) and para-chlorophenol (4-CP) under visible light. Based on a systematic characterization and study, a

• -light photocatalytic activity with an RhB degradation rate of 16.2% after 60 min irradiation due to the unsatisfactory visible-light absorption and fast recombination of photoinduced charge carriers [31][38][44][45]. After hybridization of AgI, all AgI/Ag2WO4 heterojunctions (0.1AgI/Ag2WO4, 0.2AgI

Noble metal-modified titania with visible-light activity for the decomposition of microorganisms

• Maya Endo,
• Zhishun Wei,
• Kunlei Wang,
• Baris Karabiyik,
• Kenta Yoshiiri,
• Paulina Rokicka,
• Bunsho Ohtani,
• Agata Markowska-Szczupak and
• Ewa Kowalska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 829–841, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.77

• antimicrobial properties of noble metals with the high photocatalytic activity of modified titania should result in a high purification efficiency of noble metal-modified titania [6][46][47][48][49][50][51][52]. Indeed, in our recent study, noble metal-modified faceted anatase titania (octahedral anatase

• particles; OAP) have shown high activity in both the decomposition of organic compounds and of microorganisms (E. coli and C. albicans) [48]. It has been found that both the intrinsic properties of silver and the photocatalytic activity of silver-modified titania are responsible for the high antibacterial

• increase in activity was observed, especially for the fine anatase sample (ST01, 93.1%). Modification with gold caused a slight increase in activity under UV irradiation reaching 96.2%, 94.2% and 77.5%, respectively. An increase in photocatalytic activity after titania modification with NPs of NMs is not

Facile synthesis of a ZnO–BiOI p–n nano-heterojunction with excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Mengyuan Zhang,
• Jiaqian Qin,
• Pengfei Yu,
• Bing Zhang,
• Mingzhen Ma,
• Xinyu Zhang and
• Riping Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 789–800, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.72

• Zn/Bi, the morphology varies from nanoplates, flowers to nanoparticles. The heterojunction formed between ZnO and BiOI decreases the recombination rate of photogenerated carriers and enhances the photocatalytic activity of ZnO/BiOI composites. The obtained ZnO/BiOI heterostructured nanocomposites

• exhibit a significant improvement in the photodegradation of rhodamine B under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm) irradiation as compared to single-phase ZnO and BiOI. A sample with a Zn/Bi ratio of 3:1 showed the highest photocatalytic activity (≈99.3% after 100 min irradiation). The photodegradation tests

• indicated that the ZnO/BiOI heterostructured nanocomposites not only exhibit remarkably enhanced and sustainable photocatalytic activity, but also show good recyclability. The excellent photocatalytic activity could be attributed to the high separation efficiency of the photoinduced electron–hole pairs as

Surface-plasmon-enhanced ultraviolet emission of Au-decorated ZnO structures for gas sensing and photocatalytic devices

• T. Anh Thu Do,
• Truong Giang Ho,
• Thu Hoai Bui,
• Quang Ngan Pham,
• Hong Thai Giang,
• Thi Thu Do,
• Duc Van Nguyen and
• Dai Lam Tran

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 771–779, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.70

• investigated for photocatalytic activity as reported previously [8][20]. The photocatalytic activity of the Pt/ZnO hybrid nanocomposite under photodegradation of rhodamine B (RhB) was higher compared to commercial TiO2 [21]. Here, it is quite reasonable to note that the plasmonic metal NP/metal-oxide

• semiconductor structures are also promising and interesting materials for photocatalytic utilization, in particular relating to the solar light spectrum. It is also worth mentioning that, in fact, there are numerous works that have investigated the photocatalytic activity of these structures based on

• quenching measurements shows that the Au-decorated ZnO structures exhibited an enhancement in electron−hole pair separation, which allows for superior photocatalytic activity. Results and Discussion X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of all samples are shown in Figure 1a. For both pure and Au-decorated ZnO, a

Perovskite-structured CaTiO₃ coupled with g-C₃N₄ as a heterojunction photocatalyst for organic pollutant degradation

• Ashish Kumar,
• Christian Schuerings,
• Suneel Kumar,
• Ajay Kumar and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 671–685, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.62

• )–CaTiO3 (CTCN) organic–inorganic heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized by a facile mixing method, resulting in the deposition of CaTiO3 (CT) nanoflakes onto the surface of g-C3N4 nanosheets. The photocatalytic activity of the as-synthesized heterojunction (along with the controls) was evaluated by

• studying the degradation of an aqueous solution of rhodamine B (RhB) under UV, visible and natural sunlight irradiation. The CTCN heterojunction with 1:1 ratio of g-C3N4/CT showed the highest photocatalytic activity under sunlight irradiation and was also demonstrated to be effective for the degradation of

• overall photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, the active species trapping experiments validate the major role played by superoxide radicals (O2−•) in the degradation of pollutants. Based on scavenger studies and theoretically calculated band positions, a plausible mechanism for the photocatalytic

Mechanistic insights into plasmonic photocatalysts in utilizing visible light

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Azrina Abd Aziz,
• Lan Ching Sim,
• Pichiah Saravanan,
• Min Jang and
• Detlef Bahnemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 628–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.59

• improve photocatalytic efficiency [101]. The LSPR of Ag in a Ag/AgCl composite was found to enhance the local inner electromagnetic field and prolong the lifetime of the charge carriers. Wang et al. observed that Ag@AgBr exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity as compared to Ag/AgCl by a factor of 1.5

Fabrication and photoactivity of ionic liquid–TiO₂ structures for efficient visible-light-induced photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants in aqueous phase

• Anna Gołąbiewska,
• Marta Paszkiewicz-Gawron,
• Aleksandra Sadzińska,
• Wojciech Lisowski,
• Ewelina Grabowska,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska and
• Justyna Łuczak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 580–590, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.54

• photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning transmission microscopy (STEM) and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area method, whereas the photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of phenol in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation (λ > 420

• example spectra for IL–TiO2 obtained at IL:TBOT molar ratio of 1:10 and 1:3). Therefore, this enhanced absorbance of the light in the visible spectrum is expected to enhance the photocatalytic activity in the visible region for the target reaction. This observation is well verified by the photocatalytic

• or during synthesis and preparation. Photocatalytic activity The photocatalytic activity of the IL–TiO2 samples was evaluated by phenol degradation induced by visible-light irradiation (using an optical filter with λ > 420 nm). All photocatalysts exhibited better photocatalytic properties than the

Influence of the preparation method on the photocatalytic activity of Nd-modified TiO₂

• Patrycja Parnicka,
• Paweł Mazierski,
• Tomasz Grzyb,
• Wojciech Lisowski,
• Ewa Kowalska,
• Bunsho Ohtani,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska and
• Joanna Nadolna

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 447–459, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.43

• (SHT) methods. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET surface area measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), luminescence spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activity of the

• photocatalytic efficiency of phenol and toluene degradation under vis irradiation in the presence of 0.25% Nd-TiO2(HT) reached 0.62 and 3.36 μmol·dm−1·min−1, respectively. Photocatalytic activity tests in the presence of Nd-TiO2 and scavenger confirm that superoxide radicals were responsible for the visible

• TiO2, which leads to enhanced surface adsorption properties of TiO2 and indirectly increases the photocatalytic activity of the photocatalysts [13][14]. Moreover, it has been reported that the presence of RE ions slowed down the rate of the charge-carrier recombination processes [15]. Besides, RE ions

Facile synthesis of ZnFe₂O₄ photocatalysts for decolourization of organic dyes under solar irradiation

• Arjun Behera,
• Debasmita Kandi,
• Sanjit Manohar Majhi,
• Satyabadi Martha and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 436–446, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.42

• , FESEM, UV–vis DRS, PL, FTIR and photocurrent measurements. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared material is studied with regard to the degradation of rhodamine B (Rh B) and Congo red under solar irradiation. The kinetic study showed that the material exhibits zeroth and first order reaction

• the organic dyes (i.e., Congo red, Rh B, malachite green methylene blue) to CO2, H2O and the corresponding mineral acids [19][24]. Movahedi et al. have prepared ZnFe2O4 through precipitation tested the photocatalytic activity of ZnFe2O4 in the degradation of 5 ppm Congo red obtaining 64% degradation

• in 120 min [19]. The photocatalytic activity of ZnFe2O4 has also been tested in the degradation of Rh B [24]. Zhao et al. have synthesized ZnFe2O4 through chemical etching followed by calcination and reported a degradation rate of 31% in 3 h [24]. Doong and co-workers have prepared ZnFe2O4 through a