Fine tuning the surface acidity of titanate nanostructures

The effect of protonation on the surface acidic properties of titanate nanowires (TiONWs) was investigated. Nanowires were synthesized by the alkali hydrothermal method which resulted in one dimensional nanostructures of large external surface area and well-defined lamellar interlayer structure. The Na⁺/H⁺ ratio in the structure can be tuned by ion-exchange. Our aim was to characterize the morphology of the as-synthesized nanostructures by HRTEM and SEM measurements and assess their surface acidity using in situ infrared spectroscopic measurements and temperature programmed desorption. It was found that the numbers of Lewis and Brönsted acidic sites in the Na-form and the H-form of the TiONWs is different. The ratio and the nature of acidic sites can be tuned by the ion exchange process. The wire-like morphology and the tunable acidity are features of titanate nanowires that may render them a promising material in various heterogeneous catalytic applications.     

Sonocatalytic degradation of methylene blue using spindle shaped cerium oxide nanoparticles

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - The industrial revolution has raised major concern of environmental pollution, due to excess release of hazardous chemical, dyes, etc. into water bodies....     

Morphologically controlled synthesis of copper oxides and their catalytic applications in the synthesis of propargylamine and oxidative degradation of methylene blue

Alcohol/nonionic polymeric surfactant assisted, morphologically controlled synthesis is developed for micro-/nanostructured crystalline copper oxide. Materials were characterized by a complementary combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen sorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and UV-visible spectroscopy. XRD and FT-IR confirm the formation of a mixture of Cu(OH)₂ and CuO after 0.5 h of hydrothermal treatment and pure CuO after 2 h of hydrothermal treatment. The formation mechanisms were proposed based on the SEM and TEM analysis, which show that both, alcohol/polymeric surfactant and hydrothermal time play an important role in tuning the morphology and structure of CuO. Surface area of metal oxides depends on the alcohols and the nonionic polymeric surfactants used in the synthesis. Surface area of CuO synthesized using methanol was found to be the highest. The catalytic activity of as-synthesized CuO was demonstrated by using three-component coupling reaction in the synthesis of propargylamine and catalytic oxidation of methylene blue in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Among the CuO prepared in this study, the CuO synthesized using methanol exhibited better catalytic activity (propargylamine yield (64.5%)) and the highest rate of methylene blue degradation (13 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹).     

Catalytic degradation of methylene blue in aqueous solutions over Ni- and Co- oxide systems

The oxidative catalytic degradation of the cationic dye methylene blue (MB) with NaOCl in aqueous solutions was studied using individual and iron modified Ni- and Co-oxide systems as catalysts. The adsorption extent and the contribution of the uncatalyzed oxidation on the overall degree of MB were determined. The results indicate that methylene blue—a representative of a class of dyestuffs resistant to biodegradation—could be successfully decolorized and degraded using nickel and cobalt oxide catalysts at room temperature. The highest catalytic activity manifests in the Co-oxide system which is consistent with the adsorption data. The oxidative degradation reaction proceeds via first-order kinetics. Temperature has a relatively small effect on the methylene blue degradation kinetics. The results obtained reveal that the catalysts investigated are suitable for oxidative destruction of methytlene blue dye in wastewaters.      

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles and their role in photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Nowadays, synthesis of nanoparticles, particularly silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), has become a research priority due to their wide application in medicine and...     

三维Cu-MOF对亚甲蓝的吸附和光催化降解及其机理

本文报道了[Cu₃(ppda)₃(tib)₂(H₂O)₄]·6H₂O (Cu-MOF)的合成、结构、吸附和光催化降解性能。在Cu-MOF中，1，4-苯二乙酸(H₂ppda)和1，3，5-三(1-咪唑基)苯(tib)配体交替连接Cu离子形成二维层，层与层之间通过trans-ppda^2-相互穿插形成稳定的三维结构。Cu-MOF对亚甲蓝(MB)的催化效率为97%，最高反应速率常数为0.019 7 min^-1。光催化降解机理：在光的激发下，催化剂表面的光生电子和空穴对发生分离，并与O₂、H₂O、H₂O₂反应生成活性物质，将染料降解为CO₂和H₂O。在MB溶液中加入NaCl (200 g·L^-1)后，Cu-MOF的吸附量有所提升(87.23 mg·g^-1)，准二级动力学模型和Langmuir等温线模型的实验数据拟合程度较好，该吸附的主要过程为单层化学吸附。     

三维Cu-MOF对亚甲蓝的吸附和光催化降解及其机理

本文报道了[Cu₃(ppda)₃(tib)₂(H₂O)₄]·6H₂O(Cu-MOF)的合成、结构、吸附和光催化降解性能。在Cu-MOF中,1,4-苯二乙酸(H₂ppda)和1,3,5-三(1-咪唑基)苯(tib)配体交替连接Cu离子形成二维层,层与层之间通过trans-ppda^2-相互穿插形成稳定的三维结构。Cu-MOF对亚甲蓝(MB)的催化效率为97%,最高反应速率常数为0.019 7 min^-1。光催化降解机理：在光的激发下,催化剂表面的光生电子和空穴对发生分离,并与O₂、H₂O、H₂O₂反应生成活性物质,将染料降解为CO₂和H₂O。在MB溶液中加入NaCl(200 g·L^-1)后,Cu-MOF的吸附量有所提升(87.23 mg·g     

Hydrothermal synthesis of CuO micro-/nanostructures and their applications in the oxidative degradation of methylene blue and non-enzymatic sensing of glucose/H2O2

In this paper, we report on the amino acids-/citric acid-/tartaric acid-assisted morphologically controlled hydrothermal synthesis of micro-/nanostructured crystalline copper oxides (CuO). These oxides were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, nitrogen sorption, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, and UV-visible spectroscopy. The surface area of metal oxides depends on the amino acid used in the synthesis. The formation mechanisms were proposed based on the experimental results, which show that amino acid/citric acid/tartaric acid and hydrothermal time play an important role in tuning the morphology and structure of CuO. The catalytic activity of as-synthesized CuO was demonstrated by catalytic oxidation of methylene blue in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)). CuO synthesized using tyrosine was found to be the best catalyst compared to a variety of CuO synthesized in this study. CuO (synthesized in this study)-modified electrodes were used for the construction of non-enzymatic sensors, which displayed excellent electrocatalytic response for the detection of H(2)O(2) and glucose compared to conventional CuO. The high electrocatalytic response observed for the CuO synthesized using tyrosine can be correlated with the large surface area, which enhances the accessibility of H(2)O(2)/glucose molecule to the active site that results in high observed current. The methodology adopted in the present study provides a new platform for the fabrication of CuO-based high-performance glucose and other biosensors.     

Chlorophyll-sensitized phenolic resins for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and synthetic blue wastewater

Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology - A novel method was proposed to incorporate chlorophyll molecules into the phenolic resins for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and...     

Kinetic modeling of ZnO-rGO catalyzed degradation of methylene blue

Photodegradation of organic pollutants strongly depends on design of metal oxide semiconductor photocatalysts. Graphene, if composited with ZnO, can effectively enhance its photocatalytic performance for the eradication of pollutants from aqueous medium. Here in, ZnO-rGO is reported as highly active catalyst for degradation of methylene blue. A 200-mg/L solution of methylene blue dye was completely degraded within 1 h in comparison to 74% and 56% degradation over ZnO and rGO, respectively. The commonly used mechanisms of heterogeneous catalytic reactions, the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism, and the Eley-Rideal mechanisms, were used to describe the reaction kinetics. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism was found as more favorable in this study. Apparent activation energy, E_ap, true activation energy, E_T, entropy, ΔS, and enthalpy, ΔH were calculated as 36.2 kJ/mol, 13.1 kJ/mol, 197.5 J/mol, and 23.1 kJ/mol, respectively.     

Zinc oxide nanostructures: morphology derivation and evolution

Zinc oxide nanostructures of various types, including nanobelts, nanoplatelets, nanowires, and nanorods, have been synthesized via well-developed routes by many research groups. However, so far, the underlying mechanism for the morphology derivation and evolution of the nanostructures has not been elucidated in depth. In this article, we report the systematic investigation of the morphology evolution characteristics of ZnO nanostructures from dense rods to dense nanoplatelets, nanoplatelet flowers, dense nanobelt flowers, and nanowire flowers in an evaporation-physical transport-condensation approach. Through the use of crystal growth theory, the determining factors for the formation of different nanostructural morphologies were found to be gas-phase supersaturation and the surface energy of the growing surface planes. Other experimental parameters such as the temperature at the source and the substrate, the temperature difference and the distance between the source and the substrate, the heating rate of the furnace, the gas flow rate, the ceramic tube diameter, and the starting material are all correlated with supersaturation and impose an effect on the morphology evolution. This finding may have an important impact on the qualitative understanding of the morphology evolution of nanostructures and the achieving of desired nanostructures controllably.     

Kinetics of the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue on titanium dioxide

The first step of the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) on anatase is photocatalytic reduction with subsequent decomposition of the dye itself and its leucobase. At low catalyst concentrations (≤2 g/L), the dye decomposition rate constant increases with increasing anatase concentration. A plateau appears for anatase concentrations above 2 g/L. Under steady-state conditions, the reaction kinetics is described by the Michaelis–Menten equation if the catalyst concentration is significantly greater than the MB concentration, which permits us to determine the kinetic parameters of the degradation process.     

Porous magnetic manganese oxide nanostructures: synthesis and their application in water treatment

Magnetic manganese oxide nanostructures are fabricated at room temperature by mixing a KMnO(4) solution and oleic acid capped Fe(3)O(4) particles. Oleic acid molecules capped Fe(3)O(4) particles are oxidized by potassium permanganate (KMnO(4)) in an aqueous solution to produce porous magnetic manganese oxide nanostructures. The synthesis technique can be extended to other MnO(x) structures with composition of different nanocrystals, such as quantum dots, noble metal crystals which may have important applications as catalysts, adsorbents, electrodes and advanced materials in many scientific disciplines. Transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements are employed to characterize the structures. As an adsorbent in water treatment, the nanostructures possess a large adsorption capability and high organic pollutant removal rates due to the large surface area and pore volume. The nanostructures are recyclable as their adsorption capability can be recovered by combustion. Furthermore, the strong magnetism exhibited by the structures provides an easy and efficient separation means in wastewater treatment under an external magnetic field.     

Preparation, characterization of Mo, Ag-loaded BiVO4 and comparison of their degradation of methylene blue

Two types of metal-loaded visible-light-driven photocatalysts,Mo-BiVO4and Ag-BiVO4,were synthesized by wet impregnation method.Material poperties were characterized by UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy,X-ray diffraction,field emission scanning electron microscopy,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and low temperature nitrogen adsorption-desorption.Photocatalytic activity of the obtained materials was investigated through degrading methylene blue(MB) solution under visible-light irradiation.The results reveal that both metal loaded-BiVO4catalysts have monoclinic scheelite structure.Mo and Ag exist as oxides on the surface of the particles.The changes of absorption in visible-light region,band gap(E g) and specific surface area(A BET) caused by loading Ag are more obvious than those caused by loading Mo.But the isoelectric point of Ag-BiVO4decreases less than that of Mo-BiVO4does.Both catalysts show higher photocatalytic activity than pure BiVO4,resulting in the significantly improved efficiency of degradation of MB.And the degradation efficiency of these two metal-loaded BiVO4photocatalysts is similar to each other.However,mechanisms of such enhancement are different.The decrease of isoelectric point helps Mo-BiVO4improve the degradation efficiency.As for Ag-BiVO4,the augmentation of absorption in visible-light region as well as the abatement of E g plays more important roles.     

Preparation of ZnS-Fluoropolymer nanocomposites and its photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

The ZnS particles were immobilized on the surface of poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF) mixing methacrylic acid (MAA)-trifluoroethyl acrylate (TFA) copolymer electrospun nanofibers. The PVDF and MAATFA copolymer nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning. Zinc ions were introduced onto the surface of nanofibers by coordinating with the carboxyls of MAA, and then sulfide ions were added to react with zinc ions to form ZnS particles under hydrothermal condition. The size and the amount of ZnS particles increased with the reaction time prolonging. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results reveal that a chemical interaction exists between ZnS and fluoropolymer fibers. The degradation rate of methylene blue in ZnS-fluoropolymer nanocomposite system was considerably higher than in that of ZnS powders system under UV irradiation. There may be an adsorption-migration-photodegradation process during the degradation of methylene blue by using ZnS-fluoropolymer nanocomposites as photocatalyst. The photocatalytic activity of ZnS-fluoropolymer nanocomposites changes indistinctively after 10 times repeating tests.     

Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and phenol on Fe-doped sulfated titania

Fe-doped sulfated titania (FST) photocatalysts with high photocatalytic activity were prepared from industrial titanyl sulfate solution and characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry analysis?Cdifferential scanning calorimeter (TGA-DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and nitrogen adsorption?Cdesorption techniques. The photocatalytic activity of the FST photocatalyst was evaluated using the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) and the photooxidation of phenol in aqueous solutions in the presence of UV irradiation, respectively. The effect of various parameters, such as calcining temperature, calcination time, initial concentration of substrate, amount of catalyst and pH value on the photocatalytic activity of FST photocatalyst was investigated. Among the parameters studied, calcining temperature, initial concentration of substrate, and amount of catalyst have a very similar effect on the activity of FST photocatalyst for both the photodegradation of MB and the photooxidation of phenol, while the others have distinct differences. The optimal calcination conditions were 500?°C, 1.5?h and 650?°C, 2.5?h; the optimal catalyst concentration were 1.0 and 1.2?g?L^?1; the optimal pH values were 8 and 4 for the photodegradation of MB and the photooxidation of phenol, respectively. In addition, the mechanism for the high photocatalytic efficiency of FST photocatalyst has also been put forward.     

Preparation and characterization of zinc oxide nanoflakes using anodization method and their photodegradation activity on methylene blue

In this work, we report the formation of leaf-like ZnO nanoflakes by anodization of zinc foil in a mixture of ammonium sulfate and sodium hydroxide electrolytes under various applied voltage and concentration of sodium hydroxide. The morphology and structure of ZnO nanoflakes were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of the prepared nanoflakes zinc oxide was evaluated in the photodegradation of organic dye methylene blue (MB) solution under UV irradiation. It was found that zinc oxide prepared under high concentration of sodium hydroxide and high voltage showed better performance in the photodegradation of methylene blue.     

Facile synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology - ZnO nanoparticle photocatalysts with a grain size range of 20–100?nm were prepared via a simple sol–gel method and characterized by...     

Comparative study for the removal of methylene blue via adsorption and photocatalytic degradation

Physically and chemically activated carbons were prepared from date pits and olive stones. Titania and WO(x)-TiO(2)/MCM-41 were prepared as photoactive catalysts. Surface characterizations were investigated from ash content, pH, base neutralization capacities and FT-IR techniques. The textural characteristics, namely specific surface area (S(BET)) and pore texture, were determined from low temperature adsorption of N(2) at 77 K. The decolorization of aqueous solution of methylene blue was performed by means of two alternative methods. Steam-activated carbons own higher surface area compared with ZnCl(2)-activated carbons, and the micropore surface area represents the major contribution of the total area. Steam-activated carbons were the most efficient decolorizing adsorbents owing to its higher surface area, total pore volume and the basic nature of the surface. The calculated values of DeltaG(0), DeltaH(0) and DeltaS(0) indicate the spontaneous behavior of adsorption. The photocatalytic degradation is more convenient method in decolorizing of methylene blue compared with the adsorption process onto activated carbons.     

Effect of the composition of titanium-zirconium oxide systems on their photocatalytic activity in the reduction of methylene blue by formaldehyde

Relationships were obtained between the photocatalytic activity (PCA), absorption spectra, electrical conductivity (σ), and catalytic activity (CA) of oxides containing Zr⁴⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ and their quantitative and phase composition. It was found that the PCA and CA depend linearly on σ. The relation between these characteristics and the effectiveness of their action in chemical reactions was studied. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i éksperimental’naya Khimiya, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 345–350, November–December, 2006.