Effects of Ag Doping Content and Dispersion on the Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Properties in ZnO Nanoparticles

ZnO nanoparticles(NPs)with different contents of Ag dopants were obtained by one-step solvothermal method.The crystalline structures of the prepared composites were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD).The morphology and composition of the samples were studied by means of scanning transmission electron microscopy(TEM)5 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)and electron microscopy(SEM).Photoluminescence(PL)spectra have been used to investigate pure ZnO,Ag-ZnO and Ag-ZnO-PVP NPs to determine the effect of composition on PL properties.It was found that the Ag-ZnO samples showed stronger emissions than pure ZnO.The catalytic activity of samples was measured by the degradation rate of R6G,which exhibited that Ag-ZnO nanocomposite demonstrated enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to the pure ZnO NPs.The possible influence factors to the photocatalytic and antibacterial activities of the sample were explored,including Ag contents and dispersion.It was presented that the photocatalytic activity of Ag-ZnO-PVP was better than that of Ag-ZnO and it showed the highest photocatalytic activity with 7%of Ag content.The Ag-ZnO-PVP can kill the Escherichia coli(E.coli)cells.     

Influence of Teflon Substrate on Crystallization and Enzymatic Degradation of Polymorphic Poly（butylene adipate）

Oriented and non-oriented Teflon films, which were found to have the same crystalline structure, but different surface morphologies, were used to sandwich poly(butylene adipate)(PBA) films during isothermal crystallization. It was found that both the Teflon surface structure and the PBA polymorphic structure are the determining factors to induce epitaxial crystallization. The oriented Teflon film was able to induce epitaxial crystallization of PBA α crystal, while the non-oriented Teflon did not induce any epitaxial crystallization of PBA. Epitaxial crystallization did not occurred for PBA β crystals between neither the oriented nor the non-oriented Teflon films. The enzymatic degradation rate of PBA films was not determined by the epitaxial crystallization, in fact it was still dependent on the polymorphic crystal structure of PBA. The morphological changes of PBA films after enzymatic degradation confirmed again that the epitaxial crystallization only occurred for the PBA film with α crystal structure which was produced by being sandwiched between oriented Teflon films, and it happened only on the surface of PBA films.     

Controllable synthesis of well-ordered TiO2 nanotubes in a mixed organic electrolyte for high-efficiency photocatalysis

Well-ordered TiO 2 nanotube arrays (TNAs) were fabricated by electrochemical anodization in a mixed organic electrolyte consisting of ethylene glycol and glycerol. The morphology, structure, crystalline phase, and photocatalytic properties of TNAs were characterized by using TEM, SEM, XRD and photodegradation of methylene blue. It was found that the morphology and structure of TNAs could be significantly influenced by the anodization time and applied voltage. The obtained tube length was found to be proportional to anodization time, and the calculated growth rate of nanotubes was 0.6 m/h. The microstructure analysis demonstrated that the diameter and thickness of the nanotubes increased with the increase of anodization voltage. The growth mechanism of TNAs was also proposed according to the observed relationship between current density and time during anodization. As expected, the obtained TNAs showed a higher photocatalytic activity than the commercial TiO 2 P25 nanoparticles.     

Effects of the crystallization time on the mesoporous structure,texture, morphology and styrene oxidation performances of V-MCM-41

The new V-MCM-41 molecular sieves with good ordered hexagonal mesoporous structure and crystallinity were synthesized through in-situ hydrothermal preparation method. The effects of the crystallization time were discussed. The synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, N2adsorption/desorption, Fourier transformed infrared and scanning electron microscopy. The different structures, textures, morphologies of V-MCM-41 obtained with different crystallization times were observed and analyzed on the basis of the characterized results. The results showed that the V-MCM-41 molecular sieve obtained at 110 °C for 48 h crystallization times was of good spherical morphology, ordered hexagonal structure, most uniform pore size distribution and high surface area compared with other samples. Meanwhile, the V-MCM-41 molecular sieve with the high skeleton Si condensation and the good crystallinity was obtained. The heteroatom could be incorporated into MCM-41 framework with increasing crystallization times, which was beneficial to improve the catalytic activity and selectivity of pure siliceous MCM-41. The V-MCM-41 showed the good catalytic selectivity in catalytic oxidation of styrene using hydrogen peroxide, and the selectivity of the benzaldehyde and phenylacetic acid reached 30.68%and 49.44%, respectively.     

高活性多壁碳纳米管/TiO2纳米复合物光催化剂光催化降解活性黑5染料（英文）

A nanocomposite UV-visible light-responsive multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/titanium dioxide(TiO2) nanophotocatalyst was successfully synthesized by a modified sol-gel method using titanium isopropoxide and functionalized MWCNTs as the starting precursors. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 and the nanohybrid material was investigated through the photodegradation of Reactive Black 5 dye under ultraviolet light irradiation. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that anatase phase was obtained for both the pure TiO2 and the MWCNT/TiO2 composite, while Raman spectroscopy confirmed the presence of MWCNTs in the composite. Field emission scanning elec-tron microscopy revealed that TiO2 nanoparticles with an individual diameter of about 10–20 nm were coated on the surface of the MWCNTs. The specific surface areas of the samples were found to be 80 and 181 m2/g for the pure TiO2 and MWCNT/TiO2, respectively. As a result, MWCNT/TiO2 showed better photocatalytic performance than pure TiO2 because the high surface area of MWCNTs enabled them to function as good electron acceptors for the retardation of electron-hole pair recombination.     

Synthesis and photocatalytic properties of core–shell TiO~2@ZnIn_2S_4 photocatalyst

A novel core–shell TiO2@ZnIn2S4composite has been synthesized successfully by a simple and flexible hydrothermal route using TiO2as precursors.The as-synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction,UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra and transmission electron microscopy.The photocatalytic properties of samples were tested by degradation of aqueous methylene blue（MB）under visible light irradiation.It was found that the as-synthesized TiO2@ZnIn2S4photocatalyst was more effcient than TiO2and ZnIn2S4in the photocatalytic degradation of MB.Moreover,TEM images confrmed the TiO2@ZnIn2S4nanoparticles possessed a well-proportioned core–shell morphology.     

Effects of Zr/Ti molar ratio in SO42-/ZrO2-TiO2 calcined at different temperatures on its surface properties and glucose reactivity in near-critical methanol

Effects of Zr/Ti molar ratio in SO42-/ZrO2-TiO2 solid acid catalyst calcined at different temperatures on its surface properties and catalytic activity were thoroughly investigated in this paper. The physicochemical characteristics of prepared samples were determined by N2 adsorptiondesorption, XRD, NH3-TPD and XPS techniques, respectively. It was found that the crystallization temperature of the samples increased after the combination of ZrO2 and TiO2; and phase transformations from the anatase to the rutile of TiO2 species and the tetragonal to the monoclinic of ZrO2 species were effectively suppressed at higher temperature. The sample with a Zr/Ti molar ratio of 3/1 calcined at 450℃ showed the highest surface area and the most acid sites among all the tested samples. The acid site densities of samples were relatively closed to each other if they were calcined at the same temperature, however, decreased with the calcination temperature. The result indicates that the sulfur content in samples is a crucial factor to control the acid site density. Calcining the sample at 650℃ and higher temperatures resulted in a significant desorption of sulfate ion on the samples. The synthesized samples were evaluated as a potential catalyst for glucose conversion under the near-critical methanol conditions (200℃/4 MPa). The results suggested that the relatively weaker acid sites of the catalyst were more favorable for the accumulation of methyl glucosides, while the moderate acid sites were responsible for the formation of methyl levulinate. The catalytic activity for methyl levulinate production almost increases linearly with the catalyst acid site density. The catalyst deactivation is due to the loss of sulfate ion and the two catalysts with Zr/Ti molar ratios of 3/1 and 1/3 could effectively alleviate the deactivation caused by sulfate solution in the reaction medium and can be reused after calcination with the reuse rate of over 90% in terms of the methyl levulinate selectivity.     

Impact and mechanism of TiO_2 nanoparticles on DNA synthesis in vitro

The impact of TiO2 nanoparticles on DNA synthesis in vitro in the dark and the molecular mechanism of such impact were studied. The impact of TiO2 nanoparticles on DNA synthesis was investigated by adding TiO2 nanoparticles in different sizes and at various concentrations into the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system. TiO2 nanoparticles were premixed with the DNA polymerase, the primer or the template, respectively and then the supernatant and the precipitation of each mixture were added into the PCR system separately to observe the impact on DNA synthesis. Sequentially the interaction be- tween TiO2 nanoparticles and the DNA polymerase, the primer or the template was further analyzed by using UV-visible spectroscopy and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The results suggest that TiO2 nanoparticles inhibit DNA synthesis in the PCR system in the dark more severely than mi- croscale TiO2 particles at the equivalent concentration and the inhibition effect of TiO2 nanoparticles is concentration dependent. The molecular mechanism of such inhibition is that in the dark, TiO2 nanoparticles interact with the DNA polymerase through physical adsorption while TiO2 nanoparticles do with the primer or the template in a chemical adsorption manner. The disfunction levels of the bio-molecules under the impact of TiO2 nanoparticles are in the following order: the primer > the tem- plate > the DNA polymerase.     

CRYSTALLIZATION AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYPROPYLENE FILLED WITH SiO2 NANOPARTICLES

Oleic acid （OA）-modified SiO2 （OA-m-SiO2） nanoparticles were prepared using surface modification method. Infrared spectroscopy （IR） was used to investigate the structure of the OA-m-SiO2 nanoparticles, and the result showed that OA attached onto the surface of SiO2 nanoparticles through esterification. Effect of OA concentration on the dispersion stability of OA-m-SiO2 in heptane was also studied, and the result indicated that OA-m-SiO2 nanoparticles were dispersed in heptane more stably than the unmodified ones. OA-m-SiO2 nanoparticles can also be dispersed in polypropylene （PP） matrix in nano-scale. The effect of OA-m-SiO2 on crystallization of PP was studied by means of DSC. It was found that the introduction of OA-m-SiO2 resulted in significant increase in the crystallization temperature, crystallization degree and crystallization rate of PP, and OA-m-SiO2 could effectively induce the formation of β-crystal PP. Effect of OA-m-SiO2 content on mechanical properties of PP/OA-m-SiO2 nanocomposites was also studied. The results show that OA-m-SiO2 can significantly improve the mechanical properties of PP.     

Influence of Capping Ligands on the Self—organization of Gold Nanoparticles into Superlattices from CTAB Reverse Micelles

Gold nanoparticles with size 3-10nm (diameter) were prepared by the reduction of HAuCl4 in a CTAB/octane 1-butanol/H2O reverse micelle system using NaBH4 as the reducing agent.The as-formed gold nanoparticle colloid was characterized by UV/vis absorption spectrum and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).Various capping ligands,such as alkylthiols with different chain length and shape,trioctylphosphine(TOP),and pyridine are used to passivate the gold nanoparticles for the purpose of self-organization into superstructures.It is shown that the ligands have a great influence on the selforganization of gold nanoparticles into superlattices,and dodecanethiol C12H25SH is confirmed to be the best ligand for the self-organization.Self-organization of C12H25SH-capped gold nanoparticles into 1D,2D and 3D supperlattices has been observed on the carbon-coated copper grid by TEM without using any selective precipitation process.     

Kinetic study of the poly(vinyl chloride)/titanium dioxide nanocomposites photodegradation under accelerated ultraviolet and visible light exposure

In the present study, poly(vinyl chloride)/titanium dioxide (PVC/TiO₂) nanocomposite films containing different amounts of synthesized TiO₂ nanoparticles and commercial rutile powder were irradiated for 5112 hr, under exposure of artificial ultraviolet and visible lights in three different intensities. The rate of degradation was determined by using weight loss data and was found to follow a pseudo‐first order kinetic model. To determine the overall rate constant of degradation, k, a possible mechanism of the photodegradation was considered. The rate equation demonstrated k as a function of TiO₂ concentration and irradiation intensity at each wavelength. The overall rate constant of PVC/TiO₂ samples were calculated to be varied in the range of 6–16 × 10^?7 hr^?1, at all investigated conditions. The kinetic study represented that by adding synthesized TiO₂ nanoparticles, even at low content, and with increasing their concentration, the photodegradation rate of nanocomposites decreased considerably compared with the composite samples. Likewise, by adding nanoparticles, a significant increase in the nanocomposites lifetime was achieved. The effect of irradiation intensity was investigated according to the reciprocity law experiments, and it was found that photodegradation occurred in two regimes with respect to irradiation intensity. The calculated overall rate constants were validated by the experimental data. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis of Zn doped black TiO2 nanoparticles for degradation of 2, 4, 6 tri-chloro-phenol under visible light

A modified sol-gel method was used for synthesis of zinc doped black TiO₂ nanoparticles. The modified sol-gel synthesised catalyst was utilised for degradation of 2, 4, 6 tri-chloro-phenol under visible light irradiation. The catalyst was characterized using XRD, SEM, TEM, BET and DRS analysis. The nanoparticles were crystalline in nature and in anatase phase. The size of zinc doped black TiO₂ nanoparticles was 5 nm. The synthesised nanoparticles were mesoporous in nature and the specific surface area was found to be 34.15 m²/g. The band gap energy of zinc black TiO₂ nanoparticles was found to be 2.73 eV. The point of zero charge of zinc doped black TiO₂ nanoparticles was 6.7. The maximum degradation of 2, 4, 6 tri-chloro-phenol using 2 mol% zinc doped black TiO₂ was found to be 95%.     

Photocatalytic applications of Au-deposited on TiO2 nanocomposite catalyst in dye degradation via photoreduction

The photocatalytic activity of gold deposited on Degussa P25 titanium dioxide (Au-DP25) in the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) was investigated. The as-prepared materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) techniques. The obtained results show that the gold (Au⁰) deposited TiO₂ exhibited visible light plasmon absorption band. The degradation experiment j reveals that the catalytic activity of Au-DP25 in the degradation of MO is higher than that of commercially available Degussa P25 TiO₂ (DP25) samples. In addition, the photocatalytic ability of composite Au-DP25 was hardly decreased after a five-cycle for MO degradation. The kinetics of the MO degradation fitted well the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model.     

Photocatalytic activity of Au/TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanocomposite for azo-dyes degradation

The structural properties of Au/TiO₂ catalyst were studied by X-ray diffraction, UV-visible diffuse reflectance, photoluminescene, scanning transmission and electron microscope, and temperature programmed reduction. The photocatalytic activity of the catalysts was evaluated for the degradation of various azo-dyes such as methylene blue, methyl orange, reactive blue-4, and eosin-B under solar irradiation. It was found that TiO₂ catalyst modified with gold exhibits higher percentage of degradation compared to starting TiO₂. For example, TiO₂ showed 35% of methyl orange degradation whereas gold modified TiO₂ possessed 82%. Effect of different parameters such as pH and dye concentration has been evaluated and the photocatalytic activity was correlated with physico-chemical properties. The dye degradation rate followed first order kinetics.     

Photocatalytic degradation of polyhydroxybutyrate films using titanium dioxide nanoparticles as a photocatalyst

Photocatalytic degradation of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) polymeric films (30 μm thickness) containing different concentrations of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation (λ_max = 313 nm) has been studied. The activity of TiO₂ (0.001-0.005%) as a photocatalyst was determined by monitoring various functional group indices, weight loss in polymeric films and photodegradation rate constant (k _d) with irradiation time. Photodegradation was found to be highly dependent on the TiO₂ nanoparticles concentration and the UV irradiation time. The rate of PHB sample photodegradation was highest when the concentration of TiO₂ was 0.005% (by weight) and lowest when its concentration was 0.001%.

     

不同氮源溶剂热合成N-TiO2纳米颗粒及其光催化降解气相苯（英文）

采用三种不同的氮源溶剂热合成了锐钛矿-板钛矿混晶的N-TiO2催化剂.采用X射线衍射、N2吸附-脱附、X射线光电子能谱和透射电子显微镜等手段对催化剂进行了表征.重点研究了不同氮源对催化剂的相组成、晶粒尺寸、微观结构以及比表面积的影响.采用紫外光降解气相苯测试了合成材料的催化活性.结果表明,以水合肼为氮源合成的N-TiO2表现出最优的光催化活性,其活性明显高于P25,且能够循环使用15次以上.采用气相色谱-质谱技术分析了光降解过程的中间产物,基于此提出了相应的降解机理.     

Deposit of UV- or γ-synthesized gold nanoparticles on TiO2 powder using lipid-based multilamellar vesicles

This article describes a general method for the deposition of gold nanoparticles onto solid support based on the use of multilamellar vesicles (MLVs). Gold nanoparticles (nps) synthesized within lipid-based MLVs by UV- or γ-irradiation were deposited onto TiO₂ powder support. The organic phase from MLVs was removed by calcination leading to high dispersion of naked Au nanoparticles. The resulting particles were investigated using spectrometry, electron microscopy and XPS. The gold nanoparticles were stable and well-separated on the titania surface. It was found that the metal nanoparticles produced by radiolysis have smaller average size and narrower size distribution than those synthesized by photochemical route. After calcinations, the particles tended to enlarge to reach c.a. 18 nm. The gold loading on the titania support could be controlled by changing the gold salt concentration and the MLV-to-TiO₂ weight ratio; values of Au-to-Ti ratio up to 44 % could be obtained.     

SPR effect of Au nanoparticles on the visible photocatalytic RhB degradation and NO oxidation over TiO2 hollow nanoboxes

Three-dimensional (3D) TiO₂ hollow structures have attracted much attention due to their unique properties. However, the large bandgap of (3.2 eV) results in the fact that anatase TiO₂ photocatalyst can only be excited by UV light, which only accounts for 3–5% of the solar energy. On considering that nobel metallatic nanomaterials can harvest visible light due to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect, in this paper, three kinds of Au nanoparticles with different morphologies, namely Au nanospheres (Au-NSs), Au nanorods (Au-NRs) and Au nanopentogons (Au-NPs) were prepared and used as photosensitizers to modified TiO₂ hollow nanoboxes (TiO₂-HNBs), aiming to explore high efficient visible-light-responsive photocatalyst. The photoreacitivty of Au/TiO₂-HNBs was evaluated by photoctalytic oxidation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and NO under visible irradiation (λ > 420 nm). It was found that the visible photoreactivity of TiO₂-HNBs was greatly enhanced after modified with Au nanoparticles, and TiO₂-HNBs loaded with Au-NRs exhibit the highest visible photocatalytic activity towards both RhB degradation and NO oxidation. Upon visible irradiation, SPR effect induces the production of hot electrons from the Au nanoparticles, which can further transfer to the conduction band of TiO₂-HNBs to produce superoxide radicals (O₂⁻), resulting in an efficient separation of photo-generated electron-hole pairs. The photoreactivity of Au-NRs/TiO₂-HNBs towards RhB degradation almost keeps unchanged even after recycling used for 5 times, indicating that it is promising to be use in practical applications.     

Sol-gel preparation and characterization of Co/TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticles: Application to the degradation of methyl orange

Cobalt doped titania nanoparticles were synthesized by sol-gel method using titanium(IV) isopropoxide and cobalt nitrate as precursors. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that titania and Co/TiO₂ nanoparticles only include anatase phase. The framework substitution of Co in TiO₂ nanoparticles was established by XRD, scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (SEM-EDX) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) techniques. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images confirmed the nanocrystalline nature of Co/TiO₂. The increase of cobalt doping enhanced “red-shift” in the UV-Vis absorption spectra. The dopant suppresses the growth of TiO₂ grains, agglomerates them and shifts the band absorption of TiO₂ from ultraviolet (UV) to visible region. The photocatalytic activity of samples was tested for degradation of methyl orange (MO) solutions. Although the photocatalytic activity of undoped TiO₂ was found to be higher than that of Co/TiO₂ under UV irradiation, the presence of 0.5% Co dopant in TiO₂ resulted in a catalyst with the highest activity under visible irradiation.     

Multifunctional Zn0.3Al0.4O4.5 crystals: An efficient photocatalyst for formaldehyde degradation and EBT adsorption

The Zn_0.3Al_0.4O_4.5 nanoparticles (ZnAlONPs) with size of 70–90 nm are used as an efficient photocatalyst for formaldehyde (HCHO) degradation and effective adsorbent for the removal of eriochrome black-T (EBT) dye from synthetic aqueous solution. Degradation of HCHO reactions were studied using TiO₂ (homemade), TiO₂ (P-25) and ZnAlONPs by irradiating under 18 W daylight lamp source for photocatalytic degradation. The HCHO degradation rate is about 67, 76 and 89% for TiO₂ (homemade), TiO₂ (P25) and ZnAlONPs during 2 h reaction, respectively at initial formaldehyde gas concentration of 20 ppm. Maximum adsorption capacity was optimized by changing the parameters such as pH, EBT concentration and adsorbent dosage. A  200 mg of ZnAlONPs are useable for quick removal of EBT (>95%). Langmuir isotherm model showed a maximum adsorption capacity of 90.90 mgg⁻¹. The ZnAlONPs could be successfully reused upto 5^th adsorption/desorption cycle for EBT dye removal from water samples.