Engineering nanostructures of CuO-based photocatalysts for water treatment: Current progress and future challenges

Nowadays, increasing extortions regarding environmental problems and energy scarcity have stuck the development and endurance of human society. The issue of inorganic and organic pollutants that exist in water from agricultural, domestic, and industrial activities has directed the development of advanced technologies to address the challenges of water scarcity efficiently. To solve this major issue, various scientists and researchers are looking for novel and effective technologies that can efficiently remove pollutants from wastewater. Nanoscale metal oxide materials have been proposed due to their distinctive size, physical and chemical properties along with promising applications. Cupric Oxide (CuO) is one of the most commonly used benchmark photocatalysts in photodegradation owing to the fact that they are cost-effective, non-toxic, and more efficient in absorption across a significant fraction of solar spectrum. In this review, we have summarized synthetic strategies of CuO fabrication, modification methods with applications for water treatment purposes. Moreover, an elaborative discussion on feasible strategies includes; binary and ternary heterojunction formation, Z-scheme based photocatalytic system, incorporation of rare earth/transition metal ions as dopants, and carbonaceous materials serving as a support system. The mechanistic insight inferring photo-induced charge separation and transfer, the functional reactive radical species involved in a photocatalytic reaction, have been successfully featured and examined. Finally, a conclusive remark regarding current studies and unresolved challenges related to CuO are put forth for future perspectives.     

金属Al背电极二维AZO光栅的制备和陷光特性

研究了背电极金属Al膜上二维ZnO:Al光栅的制备及其反射光谱特性.在厚度为300 nm的Al膜上溅射80 nm ZnO:Al薄膜,旋涂AZ5206光刻胶,用波长为325 nm的激光进行光刻制作光栅掩模.采用溶脱-剥离法在Al衬底上制备周期(624~1250 nm)和槽深(100~300 nm)可独立调控的ZnO:Al二维光栅.表面形貌采用原子力显微镜和扫描电镜观察,反射光谱用带积分球的分光光度计测试,双向反射分布函数用散射仪测量.结果表明,300 nm Al膜上织构二维ZnO:Al光栅背电极结构,当光栅槽深为228 nm,周期从624 nm增加到986 nm时,背电极总反射率、漫反射率以及雾度均随光栅周期增大而显著增加,而当周期从986 nm增加到1250 nm时,总反射率、漫反射率以及雾度略有增加.双向反射分布函数测试结果进一步证实了上述实验结果,即随着周期增大,漫反射峰值越大,衍射峰个数也增多.提示背反电极上槽深为228 nm、周期为986 nm的二维ZnO:Al光栅具有较好的散射效果,其中漫反射占总反射的百分比为45%.     

Hydrogenation of acetylene into ethane–ethene mixtures over modified Pd–alumina catalysts

1. Download : Download high-res image (138KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Characterization of Antioxidant Activity of Momordica Charantia Fruit by Infrared-Based Fingerprinting

Momordica charantia is widely consumed edible fruit. The food and pharmaceutical industries use it as a natural antioxidant. However, the quality control of M. charantia-based medicinal products is questionable due to the complexity of metabolites in this fruit. Hence, this study has developed a statistical model in predicting the antioxidant value through the 2, 2-diphenyl-1 picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power based on infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance. This technique was reliably used for quality control. Six ethanol extracts (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100% in water) of this plant’s fruit were prepared. The radical scavenging and ferric reducing antioxidant power activities were measured and the chemical profiling of the extracts was fingerprinted by infrared spectroscopy between 4,000 and 600?cm^?1 at a resolution of 4?cm^?1. Statistical analysis was developed by correlating the bioactivity and infrared spectra of each extract using orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis. The C–N, C?O, C–O, C–H, and OH infrared signals were positively correlated with biological activity. The antioxidant activity of the fruit of M. charantia may be due to the presence of several antioxidants that work synergistically.     

Tuning the properties of a black TiO2-Ag visible light photocatalyst produced by a rapid one-pot chemical reduction

A highly efficient black TiO₂-Ag photocatalytic nanocomposite, active under both UV and visible light illumination, was synthesized by decorating the surface of 25 nm TiO₂ particles with Ag nanoparticles. The material was obtained via a rapid, one-pot, simple (surfactant and complexing agent free) chemical reduction method using silver nitrate and formaldehyde as a metal salt and reducing agent, respectively. The nanocomposite shows an increase of over 800% in the rate of photocatalytic methylene blue dye degradation, compared to commercial unmodified TiO_2, under UV-VIS illumination. Unlike pure TiO₂, the nanocomposite exhibits visible light activation, with a corresponding drop in optical reflectance from 100% to less than 10%. The photocatalytic properties were shown to be strongly enhanced by post-reduction annealing heat treatments in air, which were observed to decrease, rather than coarsen, silver particle size, and increase particle distribution. This, accompanied by a variation in the silver surface oxidation states, appear to dramatically affect the photocatalytic efficiency under both UV and visible light. This highly active photocatalyst could have wide ranging applications in water and air pollution remediation and solar fuel production.     

Axisymmetric bifurcation analysis in soils by the tangential-subloading surface model

This article discusses localized bifurcation modes corresponding to shear band formation and diffuse bifurcation modes corresponding to bulge formation for cylindrical soil specimen subjected to an axisymmetric load under undrained conditions. We employ the tangential-subloading surface model, which exhibits the characteristic regimes of the governing equations: elliptic, hyperbolic and parabolic. Also, conditions for shear band formation, shear band inclination, diffuse bulging formation, and the long and short wavelength limits of diffuse bulging modes are discussed in relation to material properties and their state of stress, i.e. the stress ratio and the normal-yield ratio. Tangential-plastic strain rate term is required for the analyses of shear band and diffuse bulging. The shear band and the diffuse bulging are generated in not only normal-yield but also subyield states and they are severely affected by the normal-yield ratio describing the degree of approach to the normal-yield state.     

Diffuse mode bifurcation of soil causing convection-like shear investigated by group-theoretic image analysis

Diffuse mode bifurcation of soil under plane-strain compression test is shown, by means of an image analysis based on group-theoretic bifurcation theory, to trigger convection-like shear and to precede shear band formation. First digital photos of Toyoura sand specimens are processed by PIV (particle image velocimetry) to gather digitized images of deformation. Next bifurcation from a uniform state is detected by expanding these images into the double Fourier series and finding a predominant harmonic diffuse bifurcation mode based on that theory. This harmonic bifurcation mode, which is the mixture of a few harmonic functions, expresses complex convection-like shear. Last bifurcation from a non-uniform state is detected by decomposing each image into a few images with different symmetries to extract non-harmonic diffuse bifurcation modes. Diffuse modes of bifurcation, which hitherto were hidden behind predominant uniform compressive deformation, have thus been made transparent by virtue of the group-theoretic image analysis proposed. A possible course of deformation suggested herein is the evolution of diffuse mode bifurcation with a convection-like bifurcation mode breaking uniformity and symmetry, followed by the formation of shear bands through localization.     

Quelques modèles diffusifs capillaires de type KortewegSome diffusive capillary models of Korteweg type.

The purpose of this Note is to propose new diffusive capillary models of Korteweg type and discuss their mathematical properties. More precisely, we introduce viscous models which provide some additional information on the behavior of the density close to vacuum. We actually prove that if some compatibility conditions between diffusion and capillarity are satisfied, some extra regularity information on a quantity involving the density is available. We obtain a non-trivial equality deduced from the special structure of the momentum equation. This Note generalizes to some extent the authors' previous works on the Korteweg model (with constant capillary coefficient) and on the shallow water equation. To cite this article: D. Bresch, B. Desjardins, C. R. Mecanique 332 (2004).     

Gibbs Sampling with Diffuse Proper Priors: A Valid Approach to Data-Driven Inference?

Abstract

This article demonstrates by example that the use of the Gibbs sampler with diffuse proper priors can lead to inaccurate posterior estimates. Our results show that such inaccuracies are not merely limited to small sample settings.     

Diffuse scattering. X-rays vs. neutrons

Fundamental and experimental differences between X-ray and neutron scattering methods are outlined and the advantages of either radiation for the study of disorder in crystals are described. Special emphasis is laid on their complementarity, e.g. to identify the atomic species involved in the disorder or to decide between the elastic or inelastic nature of the diffuse scattering (static or dynamic disorder). This is illustrated by three examples: LiNbO₃ (dynamic nature of chain-like disorder), doped Zr0₂ (identification of cationic and anionic disorder components) and decagonal quasicrystals (distinction between quasi-isoelectronic elements).