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

• sustainable photocatalysts that can collectively harvest visible light. However, the bottleneck in utilising the low energy photons has led to the discovery of plasmonic photocatalysts. The presence of noble metal on the plasmonic photocatalyst enables the harvesting of visible light through the unique

• strengths and weaknesses, and the interaction of the plasmonic photocatalyst with pollutants as well as the role of active radical generation and identification. The review ends with a pinnacle insight into future perspectives regarding realistic applications of plasmonic photocatalysts. Keywords

• : localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR); noble metal; plasmonic photocatalyst; reactive radicals; Schottky junctions; visible light; Review Introduction Photocatalysts have played and will continue to play a pivotal role in environmental and energy applications in order to fulfil the needs of the

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

• absorption of IL–TiO2 in the visible region can be attributed to the existence of carbon species on the surface of the photocatalysts [45]. Chemical composition of ionic liquid/TiO2 composites The photocatalytic degradation is based on chemical reactions on the surface of the photocatalyst [46][47][48]. In

• reference TiO2 sample (Table 1 and Figure 6). Before the photocatalytic activity tests, phenol adsorption on the surface of the photocatalyst was tested for the samples possessing the highest photoactivity. It was observed that the concentration of phenol after 120 min in dark conditions practically did not

• degraded, indicating that OH radicals play an insignificant role in the degradation process. Interestingly, for the TiO2_O(1:3) photocatalyst, the addition of AgNO3 and tert-butyl alcohol increased the effectiveness of the photocatalytic process. As explained by Liu et al., AgNO3 may be capable of

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

• photocatalyst for the degradation of phenol and toluene under visible light. XPS analysis revealed that the photocatalyst prepared via HT method contains a three-times higher amount of hydroxy groups at the surface layer and a two-times higher amount of surface defects than that obtained by the SHT method. The

• direct (band–band) or indirect (via a band-gap state) recombination of excited electrons and holes [38]. The Nd-TiO2 photocatalysts were characterized by a better separation ability of the photogenerated electrons and holes compared to pristine samples. In addition, the Nd-modified photocatalyst prepared

• in the corresponding 0.25% Nd-TiO2(SHT) sample (Table 3). The XPS data correspond well with the highest photocatalytic activity exhibited by the 0.25% Nd-TiO2 photocatalyst prepared via HT method (described in detail in the next section). Photocatalytic properties The photocatalytic properties of

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

• correlates well with the lowest PL intensity, highest photocurrent and lowest particle size. Keywords: Congo red; electrochemical study; phenol; photocatalyst; rhodamine B (Rh B); ZnFe2O4; Introduction Photocatalysis is a “green” technology for the treatment of environmental pollutants with solar energy [1

• time intervals, 2 mL of the reaction solution was drawn from the conical flask with the help of a syringe followed by centrifugation to separate the photocatalyst. The solution was then analysed using a UV–vis spectrometer (JASCO 750) at 497 and 554 nm for Rh B and congo red, respectively. Sample

• ) under solar irradiation was determined. To know the self-degradation of the dye, a control experiment was carried out by exposing Congo red solution to the light source for 30 min. The results showed that the Congo red solution could not be photo-degraded in the absence of the photocatalyst. In the next

Photocatalytic and adsorption properties of TiO₂-pillared montmorillonite obtained by hydrothermally activated intercalation of titanium polyhydroxo complexes

• Mikhail F. Butman,
• Nikolay L. Ovchinnikov,
• Nikita S. Karasev,
• Nataliya E. Kochkina,
• Alexander V. Agafonov and
• Alexandr V. Vinogradov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 364–378, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.36

• removal of 100% MO and 97.5% RhB (with an initial concentration of 40 mg/L and a photocatalyst-sorbent concentration of 1 g/L) in about 100 minutes. The produced TiO2-pillared montmorillonite showed increased photocatalytic activity as compared to the commercially available photocatalyst Degussa P25

• temperature of 500–900 °C. The improved photocatalytic activity of the obtained TiO2-pillared MM in comparison with the commercial photocatalyst Degussa P 25 is revealed. A significant advantage of using a solution prior to sol stems from the possibility of obtaining titanium hydroxo complexes with sizes as

• 8% and 4%, respectively, thus that process can be neglected. Prior to obtaining the kinetic curves of photodegradation for the MO and RhB solutions, the photocatalyst samples were exposed to solutions of respective dyes with constant stirring in the dark for 30 min to reach adsorption–desorption

Sugarcane juice derived carbon dot–graphitic carbon nitride composites for bisphenol A degradation under sunlight irradiation

• Lan Ching Sim,
• Jing Lin Wong,
• Chen Hong Hak,
• Jun Yan Tai,
• Kah Hon Leong and
• Pichiah Saravanan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 353–363, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.35

• than that of other composites reported earlier in our previous works [28][29]. Conclusion The CD/g-C3N4 composite photocatalyst was successfully synthesized using hydrothermal treatment. With an increase in the concentration of CDs, the UV–vis DRS results showed a broader and stronger visible and NIR

• a duration of 2 h. The initial concentration of BPA was 5 mg/L prepared in a 500 mL beaker with 250 mL solution. Each experiment was carried out for 2 h where a sample was collected at 15 min intervals. Each beaker was stirred well with 0.1 g of photocatalyst. Prior to the photocatalytic degradation

• recorded light intensity during the photocatalytic experiment. Scavenging experiment CD/g-C3N4(0.5) was used as a photocatalyst in the scavenging experiment because of its superior photocatalytic performance among the samples. The scavenger test was used to identify the mechanism of photocatalyst to

Bombyx mori silk/titania/gold hybrid materials for photocatalytic water splitting: combining renewable raw materials with clean fuels

• Stefanie Krüger,
• Michael Schwarze,
• Otto Baumann,
• Christina Günter,
• Michael Bruns,
• Christian Kübel,
• Dorothée Vinga Szabó,
• Rafael Meinusch,
• Verónica de Zea Bermudez and
• Andreas Taubert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 187–204, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.21

• (Ag) NPs or TiO2 nano-grass films with AuNP for photocatalytic water splitting [29][30]. Matsuoka et al. sputtered TiO2 on a quartz glass plate by radiofrequency (RF) magnetron sputtering deposition followed by Pt deposition to make a TiO2 thin film photocatalyst for water splitting [31]. Finally

• , ideally a scaffold with a high porosity, and good chemical and mechanical stability to enable access of all reactants to the catalytically active sites over extended periods of time. Moreover, a suitable photocatalyst should ideally use a scaffold from renewable materials; ideally the scaffold should be

• a scaffold for photocatalyst synthesis. Instead of plasma chemistry, however, we employed a much softer wet chemistry method for materials synthesis. B. mori silk contains numerous amino acids, predominantly glycine, alanine, serine, and tyrosine [37][38]. As numerous amide and hydroxyl groups are

Review on optofluidic microreactors for artificial photosynthesis

• Xiaowen Huang,
• Jianchun Wang,
• Tenghao Li,
• Jianmei Wang,
• Min Xu,
• Weixing Yu,
• Abdel El Abed and
• Xuming Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 30–41, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.5

• [38], easy flow control and improved mass and photon transfer in the reaction system [49][50][51][52][53]. The small volume of optofluidic systems reduces the diffusion time, dramatically increases the reaction rate on the photocatalyst surface, and reduces the consumption of expensive photocatalysts

• energy could be offered by external light. In principle, a semiconductor photocatalyst (e.g., TiO2, C3N4) absorbs the appropriate photon (hν ≥ E0, where E0 is the bandgap of the semiconductor photocatalyst) to excite an electron in the conduction band, leaving a hole in the valence band. The electron

• for the redox reactions [65][66][67]. The desirable features of a photocatalyst include wide-range absorption, long-term stability, fast electron–hole separation, and strong redox powers. However, it is difficult to have all of these features in a single photocatalyst. Thereby, a simple heterojunction

Facile synthesis of silver/silver thiocyanate (Ag@AgSCN) plasmonic nanostructures with enhanced photocatalytic performance

• Xinfu Zhao,
• Dairong Chen,
• Abdul Qayum,
• Bo Chen and
• Xiuling Jiao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2781–2789, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.277

• nanostructured plasmonic photocatalyst, silver/silver thiocyanate (Ag@AgSCN), has been prepared by a simple precipitation method followed by UV-light-induced reduction. The ratio of Ag to silver thiocyanate (AgSCN) can be controlled by simply adjusting the photo-induced reduction time. The formation mechanism of

• visible-light irradiation. In addition to the microstructure and high specific surface area, the enhanced photocatalytic activity was mainly caused by the surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles, and the high stability of AgSCN resulted in the long-term stability of the photocatalyst product

• . Keywords: Ag@AgSCN; degradation of oxytetracycline; plasmonic photocatalyst; stability; Introduction In the past decade, water decontamination technology has attracted great attention due to the increasing health risk that water contamination poses to humankind. The removal of pollutants has been

CdSe nanorod/TiO₂ nanoparticle heterojunctions with enhanced solar- and visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Fakher Laatar,
• Hatem Moussa,
• Halima Alem,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Ghouti Medjahdi,
• Hatem Ezzaouia and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2741–2752, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.273

• remove the CdSe/TiO2 photocatalyst. The relative concentration of RhB in the solution was determined by comparing its UV−visible absorption at 554 nm with that of the starting solution. The mechanism of RhB photodegradation in aqueous solution was investigated through the use of scavengers. t-BuOH and p

• photocatalyst, the photodegradation of RhB was found to be negligible. As shown in Figure 6a, the highest photocatalytic activity was reached for the CdSe (2 wt %)/TiO2 material which fully bleached the dye in 150 min. Thereafter, the activity decreases when increasing the amount of CdSe NRs associated to TiO2

• TiO2 and CdSe/TiO2 composites loaded with 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 wt % CdSe, respectively (Figure S4, Supporting Information File 1). Influence of the photocatalyst dosage and rhodamine B concentration The photodegradation efficiency is generally affected by the amount of catalyst used and by the

Hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO quantum dot/KNb₃O₈ nanosheet photocatalysts for reducing carbon dioxide to methanol

• Xiao Shao,
• Weiyue Xin and
• Xiaohong Yin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2264–2270, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.226

• -state reaction or alkoxide methods at more than 800 °C [15][16][17], which make the particle size uncontrollable. It is well-known that the morphology, size and crystal structure of the photocatalyst are crucial properties to control its photocatalytic activity [18]. Francesco and his team [19

• transparent solution was centrifugally separated from the slurry and analyzed by a gas chromatograph (SCION 456–GC). The reference experiments were carried out in the absence of photocatalyst or laser irradiation, and there were no products formed. Results and Discussion Catalyst characterization The two-step

• KNb3O8 nanosheets: (a) 0 wt %; (b) 1 wt %; (c) 2 wt %; (d) 3 wt %; (e) 4 wt %. TEM image of the 2 wt % ZnO quantum dot/KNb3O8 nanosheet composite photocatalyst. HRTEM image of the 2 wt % ZnO quantum dot/KNb3O8 nanosheet composite photocatalyst. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy pattern of the 2 wt

Evaluating the toxicity of TiO₂-based nanoparticles to Chinese hamster ovary cells and Escherichia coli: a complementary experimental and computational approach

• Alicja Mikolajczyk,
• Natalia Sizochenko,
• Ewa Mulkiewicz,
• Anna Malankowska,
• Michal Nischk,
• Przemyslaw Jurczak,
• Seishiro Hirano,
• Grzegorz Nowaczyk,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska,
• Jerzy Leszczynski,
• Agnieszka Gajewicz and
• Tomasz Puzyn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2171–2180, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.216

• (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface, BET) of nanoparticles were discussed. Keywords: Au/Pd–TiO2 photocatalyst; bimetallic nanoparticles; nanotoxicity; nano-QSAR; second-generation nanoparticles; Introduction Unmodified titania (TiO2) nanoparticles (so-called first-generation NPs) represent a material that

• alters the rate of chemical reactions, when exposed to light (photocatalyst) [1]. TiO2-based NPs have already found wide applications as efficient photocatalysts for sterilization, sanitation, air and water purification systems, hydrogen production by water splitting, and dye-sensitized solar cells [1

Two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy generation and environmental remediation applications

• Suneel Kumar,
• Ashish Kumar,
• Ashish Bahuguna,
• Vipul Sharma and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1571–1600, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.159

• nanocomposites. Then, the development of various graphene-based nanocomposites for the above-mentioned applications is presented, wherein graphene plays different roles, including electron acceptor/transporter, cocatalyst, photocatalyst and photosensitizer. Subsequently, the development of different graphitic

• environmental remediation and energy generation applications [29][30][31][32]. Semiconductor nanocomposite-based photocatalytic reactions are generally initiated by absorbing light energy equal to or more than the band gap of semiconductor photocatalyst [4]. This leads to the excitation of electrons from the

• valence band (VB) of the semiconductor to their empty conduction band (CB), resulting in the electron–hole pair generation [4]. This photoexcitation process leaves a hole in the VB of the photocatalyst, which can oxidize water of OH− at its surface to produce hydroxyl radical (OH*), which is a powerful

Enhanced catalytic activity without the use of an external light source using microwave-synthesized CuO nanopetals

• Govinda Lakhotiya,
• Sonal Bajaj,
• Arpan Kumar Nayak,
• Debabrata Pradhan,
• Pradip Tekade and
• Abhimanyu Rana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1167–1173, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.118

• with the development of cost effective and ecologically friendly methods [2]. Metal oxides have attracted significant attention as a photocatalyst for the degradation of these pollutants [3][4][5][6]. Copper oxide (CuO) is one of the most efficient materials for the oxidation of the air pollutant

• the photocatalyst. Here, we have adopted the simple microwave-assisted route for the wet chemical surfactantless synthesis of copper oxide (CuO) nanostructures (nanoflowers and nanopetals) having a large specific surface area. The catalytic reaction of CuO nanopetals and H2O2 was studied under the

• blue degradation in the absence of CuO nanopetals (catalyst) under dark conditions. (d) UV–vis absorption spectrum of methylene blue degradation using CuO nanopetals as a photocatalyst for different durations. (a) UV–vis absorption spectra for MB degradation for different duration for 10 mg nanopetals

ZnO nanoparticles sensitized by CuInZn_xS_2+x quantum dots as highly efficient solar light driven photocatalysts

• Florian Donat,
• Serge Corbel,
• Halima Alem,
• Steve Pontvianne,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1080–1093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.110

• range by the photocatalyst but also acts to decrease electron/hole recombination. Interestingly, the ZnO/ZCIS composite was found to produce increased amounts of H2O2 and singlet oxygen 1O2 compared to ZnO, suggesting that these reactive oxygen species play a key role in the photodegradation mechanism

• generating UV-A and UV-B radiation. In this paper, we report first the successful preparation of a ZnO/ZCIS heterostructured photocatalyst using commercial ZnO nanoparticles and only 2.5 wt % of ZCIS QDs. The high photocatalytic activity of this material for the degradation of Orange II dye under simulated

• solar light irradiation was demonstrated. The ZnO/ZCIS photocatalyst was found to possess high stability and could be reused at least ten times without significant loss of activity. Additionally, it was found to be only weakly sensitive to interfering substances such as salts present in the aqueous

High photocatalytic activity of Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ nanocomposites prepared by photodeposition for degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

• Shu Chin Lee,
• Hendrik O. Lintang and
• Leny Yuliati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 915–926, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.93

• photodeposition showed higher photocatalytic activity than the unmodified TiO2. Three times higher photocatalytic activity was obtained on the best photocatalyst, Fe2O3(0.5)/TiO2. The improved activity of TiO2 after photodeposition of Fe2O3 was contributed to the formation of a heterojunction between the Fe2O3

• stability and reusability, suggesting its potential for water purification applications. Keywords: 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid; Fe2O3/TiO2; herbicide degradation; heterojunction; holes and superoxide radicals; photocatalyst; photodeposition; water purification; Introduction Photocatalytic reactions

• have been widely suggested for environmental remediation under mild conditions. In the presence of only a photocatalyst and a light source of appropriate energy, the process can mineralize organic pollutants to harmless products such as carbon dioxide and water. Among the semiconductor photocatalysts

Synthesis of graphene–transition metal oxide hybrid nanoparticles and their application in various fields

• Arpita Jana,
• Elke Scheer and
• Sebastian Polarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 688–714, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.74

• and electrical properties. It has been used as a heterogeneous photocatalyst and it has outstanding advantages because of its low cost, scalability, nontoxicity, strong photo-oxidising power and stability in oxidative and acidic environments [78]. Extensive research on TiO2 nanomaterials has shown

Investigation of the photocatalytic efficiency of tantalum alkoxy carboxylate-derived Ta₂O₅ nanoparticles in rhodamine B removal

• Subia Ambreen,
• Mohammad Danish,
• Narendra D. Pandey and
• Ashutosh Pandey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 604–613, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.65

• with the Scherrer equation, are in the range of 15–28 nm. The samples attained good crystallinity after calcination at 750 °C. SEM micrographs show that the synthesized samples are almost spherical and agglomerate to some extent. The photodegradation of rhodamine B by the semiconductor photocatalyst

Photocatalysis applications of some hybrid polymeric composites incorporating TiO₂ nanoparticles and their combinations with SiO₂/Fe₂O₃

• Andreea Laura Chibac,
• Tinca Buruiana,
• Violeta Melinte and
• Emil C. Buruiana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 272–286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.30

• separation and recycling of photocatalyst particles from aqueous suspension can appear. In order to eliminate or at least diminish the limitations mentioned, many studies were directed on obtaining TiO2-based materials that are active under solar/visible light. It has been demonstrated that the increase of

Laser irradiation in water for the novel, scalable synthesis of black TiO_x photocatalyst for environmental remediation

• Massimo Zimbone,
• Giuseppe Cacciato,
• Mohamed Boutinguiza,
• Vittorio Privitera and
• Maria Grazia Grimaldi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 196–202, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.21

• irradiation. We employed a commercial high repetition rate green laser in order to synthesize a black TiOx layer and we demonstrate the scalability of the present methodology. The photocatalyst is composed of a nanostructured titanate film (TiOx) synthetized on a titanium foil, directly back-contacted to a

• irradiation in the presence of black TiOx material (black) and without the photocatalyst (green) are reported. The MB concentration follows a pseudo first-order kinetic law in the first 10 hours of irradiation. The discoloration rate constant k is measured by fitting the curve in Figure 6 with the following

• the TiOx/Ti film in the IR, visible and UV spectral range. UV discoloration of methylene blue (MB) dye in the presence of TiOx/Ti/Pt foil. The discoloration of a MB solution without photocatalyst is also reported for comparison purposes. Acknowledgements This research has been supported by the FP7

Organoclay hybrid materials as precursors of porous ZnO/silica-clay heterostructures for photocatalytic applications

• Marwa Akkari,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Abdessalem Ben Haj Amara and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1971–1982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.188

• microparticulated layered silicates of the smectite family, giving rise to materials exhibiting interesting properties [8][9]. The immobilization of those NP on clay surfaces represents an advantage for the easier recovering of the photocatalyst from the reaction medium compared to ZnO NP alone. In recent years

• different applications as a photocatalyst. Hence, their activity has been tested using methylene blue (MB) model dye molecule. Figure 11 shows the concentration of methylene blue solutions (C/C0) as a function of the UV irradiation time in presence of SiO2/ZnO montmorillonite and ZnO/SiO2-sepiolite

• photocatalyst for the degradation of drug pollutants in water, ibuprofen was selected as a model pharmaceutical. Ibuprofen shows a low adsorption affinity towards silica/silicate substrates and the observed degradation could be directly related to the photocatalytic activity of the tested materials. Figure 12

Role of RGO support and irradiation source on the photocatalytic activity of CdS–ZnO semiconductor nanostructures

• Suneel Kumar,
• Rahul Sharma,
• Vipul Sharma,
• Gurunarayanan Harith,
• Vaidyanathan Sivakumar and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1684–1697, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.161

• the photocatalysts. In this work, we have investigated the role of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) support and the irradiation source on mixed metal chalcogenide semiconductor (CdS–ZnO) nanostructures. The photocatalyst material was synthesized using a facile hydrothermal method and thoroughly

• characterized using different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by studying the degradation of a model dye (methyl orange, MO) under visible light (only) irradiation and under natural sunlight. The results reveal that the RGO-supported CdS–ZnO photocatalyst

• with other semiconductor materials to form nanocomposites, they turn out be an efficient photocatalyst [25]. Recently, there have been few reports available in literature on CdS–ZnO coupled photocatalytic systems with enhanced activity [26]. On illumination of light, charge transfer takes place from

High performance Ce-doped ZnO nanorods for sunlight-driven photocatalysis

• Bilel Chouchene,
• Tahar Ben Chaabane,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Kevin Mozet,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1338–1349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.125

• no marked detrimental effect on the photocatalytic activity was observed. Finally, recyclability experiments demonstrate that ZnO:Ce rods are a stable solar-light photocatalyst. Keywords: Ce doping; photocatalysis; solvothermal synthesis; ZnO rods; Introduction Due to the increasing pollution of

• adequate wavelength by the semiconductor, electrons (e−) are promoted from the valence band (VB) to the conduction band (CB) and holes (h+) generated in the VB to form electron–hole pairs. Most of these e−/h+ pairs recombine and only a small percentage migrate to the surface of the photocatalyst where they

• semiconductor photocatalyst owing to its availability, weak toxicity, stability and relatively good resistance to photocorrosion [2][3][4][5][6][7]. However, to efficiently use ZnO in practice as an air and water decontamination agent, two drawbacks should be overcome. First, ZnO is a wide bandgap material (Eg

Manufacturing and investigation of physical properties of polyacrylonitrile nanofibre composites with SiO₂, TiO₂ and Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles

• Tomasz Tański,
• Wiktor Matysiak and
• Barbara Hajduk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1141–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.106

• composite nanofibres obtained by Ji Sun Im, Min Il Kim and Young-Seak Lee [36]. This leads to a significant increase in the specific surface area of the composite mats related to receiving more efficient photocatalyst materials. It is anticipated that the Bi2O3-reinforced composite PAN nanofibres produced

• by the authors hereof, due to their photocatalyst properties [37], can provide a more effective alternative to the previously produced PAN/TiO2 nanofibres. In addition, in the a stage of the study, it is planned to examine the effects even larger distances between the electrodes while maintaining the

Selective photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to methanol in CuO-loaded NaTaO₃ nanocubes in isopropanol

• Tianyu Xiang,
• Feng Xin,
• Jingshuai Chen,
• Yuwen Wang,
• Xiaohong Yin and
• Xiao Shao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 776–783, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.69

• visible light absorbance correlates with the formation rate and increase in electrons and holes on the photocatalyst surface [35]. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were carried out to confirm that CuO was loaded onto the surface of NaTaO3 nanocubes

• , 2wt-NaTaO3 and 5wt-NaTaO3. Methanol and acetone yields for 2M-NaTaO3 loaded with different amounts of CuO after 6 h of irradiation. Schematic diagram for photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol in CuO–NaTaO3 photocatalyst under UV light irradiation. Acknowledgements We gratefully thank the