Sonochemical synthesis of amide-functionalized metal-organic framework/graphene oxide nanocomposite for the adsorption of methylene blue from aqueous solution

Graphene oxide-[Zn₂(oba)₂(bpfb)]·(DMF)₅ metal-organic framework nanocomposite (GO-TMU-23; H₂oba = 4,4′-oxybisbenzoic acid, bpfb = N,N′-bis-(4-pyridylformamide)-1,4-benzenediamine, DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide) is prepared through a simple and large-scale sonochemical preparation method at room temperature. The obtained nanocomposite is characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and FT-IR spectroscopy. Additionally, the absorption ability of GO-TMU-23 nanocomposite toward cationic dye methylene blue was also performed. Significantly, GO-TMU-23 nanocomposite exhibits remarkably accelerated adsorption kinetics for methylene blue in comparison with the parent materials. The adsorption process shows that 90% of the dye has been removed and the equilibrium status has been reached in 2 min by using the nanocomposites as the adsorbent.     

Sono-enhanced degradation of dye pollutants with the use of H2O2 activated by Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles as peroxidase mimetic

Sono-enhanced degradation of a dye pollutant Rhodamine B (RhB) was investigated by using H₂O₂ as a green oxidant and Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as a peroxidase mimetic. It was found that Fe₃O₄ MNPs could catalyze the break of H₂O₂ to remove RhB in a wide pH range from 3.0 to 9.0 and its peroxidase-like activity was significantly enhanced by the ultrasound irradiation. At pH 5.0 and temperature 55 °C, the ultrasound-assisted H₂O₂–Fe₃O₄ catalysis removed about 95% of RhB (0.02 mmol L⁻¹) in 15 min with a apparent rate constant of 0.15 min⁻¹ for the degradation of RhB, being 6.5 and 37.6 folds of that in the simple catalytic H₂O₂–Fe₃O₄ system, and the simple ultrasonic US-H₂O₂ systems, respectively. The beneficial synergistic behavior between Fe₃O₄ catalysis and ultrasonic was demonstrated to be dependent on Fe₃O₄ dosage, H₂O₂ concentration, pH value and temperature. As a tentative explanation, the observed significant synergistic effects was attributed to the positive interaction between cavitation effect accelerating the catalytic breakdown of H₂O₂ over Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, and the function of Fe₃O₄ MNPs providing more nucleation sites for the cavitation inception.     

Simple sonochemical synthesis of Ho2O3-SiO2 nanocomposites as an effective photocatalyst for degradation and removal of organic contaminant

In this work, highly photocatalytically active Ho₂O₃-SiO₂ nanocomposites have been designed and applied for decomposition of methylene blue pollutant. Ho₂O₃-SiO₂ nanocomposites have been produced by new, quick and facile sonochemical process with the aid of tetramethylethylenediamine as a novel basic agent for the first time. The effect of the kind of basic agent, ultrasonic time and dosage of Ho source on the grain size, photocatalytic behavior and shape of the Ho₂O₃-SiO₂ nanocomposites have been evaluated for optimization the production condition. FESEM, EDX, FT-IR, DRS, XRD and TEM have been applied to characterize the as-produced Ho₂O₃-SiO₂ nanocomposites. Use of the as-produced Ho₂O₃-SiO₂ nanocomposites as photocatalyst via destruction of methylene blue pollutant under UV illumination has been compared. It was observed that SiO₂ has notable impact on catalytic activity of holmium oxide photocatalyst for destruction. Introducing of SiO₂ to holmium oxide can enhance destruction efficiency of holmium oxide to methylene blue pollutant under ultraviolet light.     

Synthesis of NiCo2S4 nanospheres/reduced graphene oxide composite as electrode material for supercapacitor

The NiCo₂S₄ nanospheres arrayed on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was fabricated via one-step hydrothermal method. The effect of initial feeding mass of Ni(NO₃)₂·6H₂O and Co(NO₃)₂·6H₂O to rGO on the microstructure and electrochemical performance of the as-prepared composites was studied. The results indicated that the specific capacitances of the composites were first increased and then reduced due to the aggregation of NiCo₂S₄ nanospheres. NiCo₂S₄ nanospheres/rGO composites exhibited a remarkable specific capacitance of 1406 F/g and excellent cyclic stability of 82.36% at the current density of 1 A/g, which were better than those of individual NiCo₂S₄ (792 F/g and 64.77%) counterpart. These results showed that the as-prepared NiCo₂S₄ nanospheres/rGO composites were outstanding candidate for electrode material of supercapacitors.     

Preparation and characterization of TiO2 photocatalysts co-doped with iron (III) and lanthanum for the degradation of organic pollutants

Titanium dioxide photocatalysts co-doped with iron (III) and lanthanum were prepared by a facile sol-gel method. The structure of catalysts was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activities of the samples were evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue in aqueous solutions under visible light (λ > 420 nm) and UV light irradiation. Doping with Fe³⁺ results in a lower anatase to rutile (A-R) phase transformation temperature for TiO₂ particles, while doping with La³⁺ inhibits the A-R phase transformation, and co-doping samples indicate that Fe³⁺ partly counteracts the effect of La³⁺ on the A-R transformation property of TiO₂. Fe-TiO₂ has a long tail extending up the absorption edges to 600 nm, whereas La-TiO₂ results in a red shift of the absorption. However, Fe and La have synergistic effect in the absorption of TiO₂. Compared with Fe³⁺ and La³⁺ singly doped TiO₂, the co-doped simple exhibits excellent visible light and UV light activity and the synergistic effect of Fe³⁺ and La³⁺ is responsible for improving the photocatalytic activity.