Facile ion-exchange synthesis of Gd-doped K2Ta2O6 photocatalysts with enhanced visible light activity

One of the well-known ways of increasing the visible light absorption capability of semiconducting materials is cation doping. This study aims to use Gd doping to tailor the bandgap energy of K₂Ta₂O₆ (KTO) for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants under visible light irradiation. Accordingly, the parent KTO and Gd-doped KTO with different Gd concentrations (K_2-3xGd_xTa₂O₆; x = 0.025, 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1 mol%) were synthesized by hydrothermal and facile ion-exchange methods, respectively. The powder XRD, FT-IR, SEM-EDS, TEM-SAED, N₂ adsorption-desorption, XPS, UV–Vis DRS, PL and ESR techniques were used to investigate the effect of Gd dopant concentration on the structural and photocatalytic properties of KTO. The photocatalytic activity of these samples was investigated for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye in an aqueous solution at room temperature under visible light irradiation. The experimental results show that all Gd-doped KTO samples exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with parent KTO toward MB degradation. In particular, Gd-KTO obtained by doping of 0.075 mol% shows the highest photocatalytic activity among the Gd-doped samples and the degradation efficiency of MB was 79% after 180 min of visible light irradiation, which is approximately 1.5 times as high as that by parent KTO (53%). In addition, trapping experiments and electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis demonstrated that the hydroxyl radicals (^?OH) have played a crucial role in the photocatalytic degradation of MB. The reusability and stability of Gd doped-KTO with a Gd content of 0.075 mol% against MB degradation were examined for five cycles. Based on the present study results, a visible light induced photocatalytic mechanism has been proposed for Gd0075-KTO sample.     

Synthesis,characterisation and photocatalytic activity of Ag<Superscript>+</Superscript>- and Sn<Superscript>2+</Superscript>-substituted KSbTeO<Subscript>6</Subscript>

Ag⁺- and Sn²⁺-substituted KSbTeO₆ were prepared by a facile ion-exchange method at ambient temperature. All the samples were characterised by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectra, thermogravimetric analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra and UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectra. Both Sn²⁺- and Ag⁺-substituted KSbTeO₆ were crystallised in a cubic lattice with the \(Fd\bar 3m\) space group. The band-gap energy of all the samples was deduced from their UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectral profiles. The visible light-induced photocatalytic oxidation of the methylene blue (MB) dye was examined in the presence of all the as-prepared materials. The Ag⁺- and Sn²⁺-substituted KSbTeO₆ exhibited a higher photocatalytic activity than the parent KSbTeO₆ in degradation of the MB dye under visible light irradiation.     

Resonance expansions in quantum mechanics

The goal of this contribution is to discuss various resonance expansions that have been proposed in the literature. Presented at the 3rd International Workshop “Pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians in Quantum Physics”, Istanbul, Turkey, June 20–22, 2005.     

Synthesis of 2-Azobenzo[b]thiophene Derivatives and Their Application on Nylon Fibre

A series of novel monoazo disperse dyes derived from the coupling of diazotized 2-aminobenzo[b]thiophene derivatives with N-arylmaleimides is described. The monoazo disperse dyes applied to nylon fabric and their dyeing performance has been assessed. These dyes have been found to give light yellow to reddish pink color shades with very good depth and levelness on nylon fabric. The dyed fabric shows moderate light fastness and excellent washing, rubbing, perspiration, and sublimation fastness. The percentage dyebath exhaustion on nylon fabric has been found to be good and acceptable.     

Molecular electrostatic potentials as input for the alignment of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors in 3D QSAR

Comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA), a three-dimensional quantitative structure activity relationship (3D QSAR) paradigm, was used to examine the correlations between the calculated physicochemical properties and the in vitro activities (3'-processing and 3'-strand transfer inhibition) of a series of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase inhibitors. The training set consisted of 34 molecules from five structurally diverse classes: salicylpyrazolinones, dioxepinones, coumarins, quinones, and benzoic hydrazides. The data set was aligned using extrema of molecular electrostatic potentials (MEPs). The predictive ability of the resultant model was evaluated using a test set comprised of 7 molecules belonging to a different structural class of thiazepinediones. A CoMSIA model using an MEP-based alignment showed considerable internal as well external predictive ability (r2(cv) = 0.821, r2(pred) = 0.608 for 3'-processing; and r2(cv) = 0.759, r2(pred.) = 0.660 for 3'-strand transfer).     

Synthesis,Characterization and Photocatalytic Activity of Ag+‐ and Sn2+‐Doped KTi0.5Te1.5O6

In this study, the photocatalytic dye degradation efficiency of KTi_0.5Te_1.5O₆ synthesized through solid‐state method was enhanced by cation (Ag⁺/Sn⁺²) doping at potassium site via ion exchange method. As prepared materials were characterized by XRD, SEM‐EDS, IR, TGA and UV–Vis Diffuse reflectance spectroscopic (DRS) techniques. All the compounds were crystallized in cubic lattice with space group. The bandgap energies of parent, Ag⁺‐ and Sn⁺²‐doped KTi_0.5Te_1.5O₆ materials obtained from DRS profiles were found to be 2.96, 2.55 and 2.40 eV, respectively. Photocatalytic efficiency of parent, Ag⁺‐ and Sn⁺²‐doped materials was evaluated against the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl violet (MV) dyes under visible light irradiation. The Sn⁺²‐doped KTi_0.5Te_1.5O₆ showed higher activity toward the degradation of both MB and MV dyes and its higher activity is ascribed to the lower bandgap energy compared to the parent and Ag⁺‐doped KTi_0.5Te_1.5O₆. The mechanistic degradation pathway of methylene blue (MB) was studied in the presence of Sn²⁺‐doped KTi_0.5Te_1.5O₆. Quenching experiments were performed to know the participation of holes, super oxide and hydroxyl radicals in the dye degradation process. The stability and reusability of the catalysts were studied.     

Enhanced photoactivity of antimony phosphates by substitution of H+, Cu2+ and N3− in the K3Sb3P2O14·xH2O crystal lattice

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Substitutional doping of framework heteroatoms in photocatalysis is one of the approaches for harvesting visible light. Tunnel structure potassium antimony...     

The Helmholtz equation with impedance in a half-space

In this Note we obtain existence and uniqueness results for the Helmholtz equation in the half-space ${\mathbb{R}}_{+}^3$ with an impedance or Robin boundary condition. Basically, we follow the procedure we have already used in the bi-dimensional case (the half-plane). Thus, we compute the associated Green's function with the help of a double Fourier transform and we analyze its far field in order to obtain radiation conditions that allow us to prove the uniqueness of an outgoing solution. Again, these radiation conditions are somewhat unusual due to the appearance of a surface wave guided by the boundary. An integral representation of the solution is presented by means of the Green's function and the boundary data. To cite this article: M. Durán et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 341 (2005).     

Evolution of first-order sidebands from multiple FWM processes in HiBi optical fibers

The generation of two idler waves inside a high birefringent (HiBi) optical fiber through three four-wave mixing (FWM) processes is studied theoretically. The coupled-equations for the field amplitudes are derived and analytically solved, in the co-polarized and orthogonal polarization schemes. The obtained solutions take into account the delayed Raman response of the medium. The polarization sensitivity of the generation of the idler waves is analyzed. Results show that the stimulated Raman scattering does not change the efficiency of the idler wave generation in the co-polarized scheme, whereas in the orthogonal polarization scheme that nonlinear process decreases the efficiency of the four-wave mixing processes. Results also show that this set of multiple four-wave mixing processes is physically quite different from the typical single or dual pump four-wave mixing configurations. Findings show that the power transfer from the pumps to the idler fields can lead to a monotonous growth, or a periodic evolution of the sidebands along the fiber. Results show that the process efficiency varies greatly with the angle between the two pump polarizations.