Photocatalytic Air Decontamination from Volatile Organic Pollutants Using Graphite-Like Carbon Nitride: a Review

Theoretical and Experimental Chemistry - The latest research on photocatalytic systems based on graphite-like carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for decontamination of air pollutants, in particular, volatile...     

Selective Reductive Transformations of Organic Nitro Compounds in Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Systems: A Review

Theoretical and Experimental Chemistry - The cutting-edge research on the photocatalytic selective reductive transformations of organic nitro compounds in heterogeneous systems on the basis of...     

Structural and optical characterization of colloidal Se nanoparticles prepared via the acidic decomposition of sodium selenosulfate

Colloidal selenium nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized via acidic decomposition of sodium selenosulfate. The effects of synthesis and post-synthesis treatment conditions on the size, structure and size distribution of the Se nanoparticles are discussed. It is shown that the decomposition of sodium selenosulfate with non-oxidative acids (e.g., HCl) in aqueous solutions of polymers (sodium polyphosphate, gelatin, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethyleneglycole) and surfactants (sodium dodecylsulfonate, cetylpyridinium chloride) results in the formation of amorphous 25–200 nm Se nanoparticles converting upon ageing at 90 °C into trigonal 150–250 nm Se nanocrystals. Optical properties (absorption and Raman spectra) of freshly prepared and aged Se nanoparticles both in colloidal solutions and in polymeric (polyvinyl alcohol) films are analyzed.     

Preparation of colloidal CdSe and CdS/CdSe nanoparticles from sodium selenosulfate in aqueous polymers solutions

Cadmium selenide nanoparticles formation at the interaction between CdCl2 and Na2SeSO3 in aqueous solutions of sodium polyphosphate and gelatin has been studied. Structural and optical properties of CdSe nanoparticles have been characterized. It has been shown that the temperature and the ratio of reagents concentrations are the basic parameters, controlling the size of CdSe nanoparticles. Photocatalytic activity of CdS nanoparticles in Na2SeSO3 reduction has been found and investigated; structural and optical properties of binary CdS/CdSe nanoparticles have been characterized. This photoreaction, when carried out in the presence of CdCl2, results in the formation of composite CdS/CdSe nanoparticles. It has been shown that slow interaction of adsorbed selenosulfate with surface-trapped CdS conduction band electrons is the limiting stage of the photocatalytic reaction.     

Growth and spectroscopic characterization of CdSe nanoparticles synthesized from CdCl2 and Na2SeSO3 in aqueous gelatine solutions

CdSe nanoparticles were synthesized in comparatively mild conditions from Na₂SeSO₃ and CdCl₂ in aqueous gelatine solutions. Kinetics of the formation and growth of CdSe nanocrystals as well as the effect of various parameters of reacting mixture on the size of CdSe nanocrystals are investigated. Optical properties of thin gelatine films, containing CdSe nanoparticles of different size, are characterized using absorption and Raman spectroscopy.     

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution over mesoporous TiO2/metal nanocomposites

Na⁺ complex with the dibenzo-18-crown-6 ester was used as a template to synthesize mesoporous titanium dioxide with the specific surface area 130–140 m²/g, pore diameter 5–9 nm and anatase content 70–90%. The mesoporous TiO₂ samples prepared were found to have photocatalytic activity in Cu^II, Ni^II and Ag^I reduction by aliphatic alcohols. The resulting metal–semiconductor nanostructures have remarkable photocatalytic activity in hydrogen evolution from water–alcohol mixtures, their efficiency being 50–60% greater than that of the metal-containing nano-composites based on TiO₂ Degussa P25.The effects of the thermal treatment of mesoporous TiO₂ upon its photocatalytic activity in hydrogen production were studied. The anatase content and pore size were found to be the basic parameters determining the photoreaction rate. The growth of the quantum yield of hydrogen evolution from TiO₂/Ag⁰ to TiO₂/Ni⁰ to TiO₂/Cu⁰ was interpreted in terms of differences in the electronic interaction between metal nanoparticles and the semiconductor surface. It was found that there is an optimal metal concentration range where the quantum yield of hydrogen production is maximal. A decrease in the photoreaction rate at further increment in the metal content was supposed to be connected with the enlargement of metal nanoparticles and deterioration of the intimate electron interaction between the components of the metal–semiconductor nanocomposites.     

Photopolymerization of water-soluble acrylic monomers induced by colloidal CdS and Cd x Zn1 − x S nanoparticles

Photocatalytic activity of CdS and Cd _x Zn_1−x S nanoparticles in the polymerization of acrylamide and acrylic acid in aqueous solutions has been found. It has been shown that the most probable way of the photogeneration of primary radicals is the reduction of an adsorbed monomer by the conduction band electrons of the semiconductor nanoparticles, a monomer oxidation by the valence band holes and atomic hydrogen addition to a monomer being complementary photoinitiation routes. A correlation between the composition of Cd_xZn_1-xS nanoparticles and their photocatalytic activity in the acrylamide polymerization has been established. It has been shown that an increase in the quantum yield of the photopolymerization in a sequence СdS < Cd_0.75Zn_0.25S < CdS_0.5Zn_0.5S < Cd_0.3Zn_0.7S originates from a concurrent increase of the conduction band potential of the semiconductor nanoparticles. A kinetic equation of the photocatalytic acrylamide polymerization has been derived. Quantum yields of the photoinitiation have been found to be as small as 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻³.     

On the Bifurcations and Multiple Endemic States of a Single Strain HIV Model Dedicated to Professor Toshikazu Sunada on the Occasion of his 60th Birthday

The dynamics of a single strain HIV model is studied.The basic reproduction number R_0 used as a bifurcation parameter shows that the system undergoes transcritical and saddle-node bifurcations.The usual threshold unit value of R_0 does not completely determine the eradication of the disease in an HIV infected person.In particular,a sub-threshold value R_C is established which determines the system's number of endemic states:multiple if R_c Ro 1,only one if R_C = R_0 = 1,and none if R_0 R_C 1.