Adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of 1,4-dioxane on TiO2

1,4-Dioxane in hexane as a solvent was adsorbed on TiO₂ due to an electrostatic interaction. The porous TiO₂ pellets (SG) prepared by sol–gel method were superior adsorbent to ST-B21 and Degussa P-25. Effects of firing temperature of the pellets and the initial concentrations of 1,4-dioxane on the adsorption percents were examined. Photocatalytic degradation of aqueous 1,4-dioxane gave 1,2-ethanediol diformate and formic acid as intermediates. Analysis of total organic carbon indicated that 1,4-dioxane was mineralized effectively in the following order: P-25 > ST-B21 > SG. The photocatalytic degradation of 1,4-dioxane adsorbed on the TiO₂ pellets in air showed that ST-B21 had a higher activity than SG. These facts indicate that SG pellet acts as a good adsorbent because of its high specific surface area but the internal region of the pores is not illuminated and acts only as a support.     

Adsorption properties and photocatalytic activity of TiO2/activated carbon fiber composite

Photocatalysts of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and TiO₂/activated carbon fiber (TiO₂/ACF) composite were prepared by sol-gel method, followed by calcining the pure TiO₂ sols and the TiO₂/ACF sols at 500°C for 2 h in a N₂ atmosphere, respectively. These photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms measurement. Batch experiments were conducted to study the adsorption property of TiO₂/ACF composite using methylene blue as adsorbate. The adsorption data obtained from different batch experiments were analyzed using pseudo-second-order kinetic model, the experimental data can be adequately described by the pseudo-second-order equation. The photodecomposition behavior of TiO₂/ACF was investigated in aqueous solution using methylene blue as target pollutant. It was found that methylene blue could be removed rapidly from water by TiO₂/ACF, the photocatalytic decomposition was obviously improved when the photocatalyst was used. Kinetics analysis revealed that the photocatalytic decomposition reaction can be described well by a first-order rate equation.     

Adsorption and solar light decomposition of acetone on anatase TiO2 and niobium doped TiO2 thin films

Adsorption and solar light decomposition of acetone was studied on nanostructured anatase TiO2 and Nb-doped TiO2 films made by sol-gel methods (10 and 20 mol % NbO2.5). A detailed characterization of the film materials show that films contain only nanoparticles with the anatase modification with pentavalent Nb oxide dissolved into the anatase structure, which is interpreted as formation of substituted Nb=O clusters in the anatase lattice. The Nb-doped films displayed a slight yellow color and an enhanced the visible light absorption with a red-shift of the optical absorption edge from 394 nm for the pure TiO2 film to 411 nm for 20 mol % NbO2.5. In-situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) transmission spectroscopy shows that acetone adsorbs associatively with eta1-coordination to the surface cations on all films. On Nb-doped TiO2 films, the carbonyl bonding to the surface is stabilized, which is evidenced by a lowering of the nu(C=O) frequency by about 20 cm(-1) to 1672 cm(-1). Upon solar light illumination acetone is readily decomposed on TiO2, and stable surface coordinated intermediates are formed. The decomposition rate is an order of magnitude smaller on the Nb-doped films despite an enhanced visible light absorption in these materials. The quantum yield is determined to be 0.053, 0.004 and 0.002 for the pure, 10% Nb:TiO2, and 20%Nb:TiO2, respectively. Using an interplay between FTIR and DFT calculations we show that the key surface intermediates are bidentate bridged formate and carbonate, and H-bonded bicarbonate, respectively, whose concentration on the surface can be correlated with their heats of formation and bond strength to coordinatively unsaturated surface Ti and Nb atoms at the surface. The oxidation rate of these intermediates is substantially slower than the initial acetone decomposition rate, and limits the total oxidation rate at t>7 min on TiO2, while no decrease of the rate is observed on the Nb-doped films. The rate of degradation of key surface intermediates is different on pure TiO2 and Nb-doped TiO2, but cannot explain the overall lower total oxidation rate for the Nb-doped films. Instead the inferior photocatalytic activity in Nb-doped TiO2 is attributed to an enhanced electron-hole pair recombination rate due to Nb=O cluster and cation vacancy formation.     

Effects of thermal treatments on the recovery of adsorbed water and photocatalytic activities of TiO2 photocatalytic systems

The effects of thermal treatments on the rehydration process and photocatalytic activity were investigated by 1H NMR spectroscopy for six anatase abundant TiO2 photocatalysts with different properties. Acetic acid and benzoic acid were employed for photodecomposition in aqueous suspension. After the calcinations at 973 K, physisorbed water layers recovered relatively fast for P25, F4, and AMT-600 (shorter than 24 h) with no significant enhancement of the photocatalytic decomposition. On the other hand, for ST-01, UV-100, and AMT-100, the recovery was very slow (longer than 1 week) and only partially reversible, and the photocatalytic decomposition was considerably enhanced but retarded with rehydration. In the presence of adsorbed water, the binding of a carboxyl group of the molecules with adsorbed water is considered to compete with the direct adsorption on the surface, which reduces the amount of the direct adsorption and results in the reduction in the photocatalytic efficiency. In addition, the photocatalytic decomposition of benzoic acid with an aromatic ring was much faster in all of the TiO2 aqueous suspensions and more enhanced for the fully dehydroxylated TiO2 than that of acetic acid. These results suggest that the most efficient photocatalytic sites should be the hydrophobic sites on the TiO2 surface. The difference among the rehydration rates of different TiO2 is discussed in terms of thermally induced changes of surface morphology.     

Kinetics of thermal decomposition of sulfur-containing amino acids

Rates of thermal decomposition of sulfur-containing amino acids such as D,L-methionine, L-cysteine, and L-cystine are studied. It is established that the amino acids decompose at 190–240°C to give the gaseous and liquid decomposition products in the polyphasic system formed. The rate of summary process is described by the first order kinetic equation up to 30–50% conversion. In spite of close values of the effective activation energies of thermal decomposition of D,L-methionine, L-cysteine, and L-cystine (195, 193, and 184 kJ mol^?1 respectively) the effective rate constants at one and the the same temperature differ by one or two orders of magnitude in the above-mentioned series. Sulfur-containing compounds prevail in the gaseous decomposition products, while in the liquid phase the nitrogen-containing ones are accumulated.     

Shape control of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles by amino acids in a gel-sol system

Ellipsoidal anatase TiO2 nanoparticles of different aspect ratios were obtained by the gel-sol method in the presence of amino acids in which the resulting particles were basically single crystals, but highly rough surfaces or partly polycrystalline structures were observed with a high concentration of glutamic acid or aspartic acid.     

Interfacial chemical bonding effect on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2-SiO2 nanocoupling systems

TiO(2) nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited on the surfaces of SiO(2) microspheres with a mesoporous structure prepared by a hydrolysis-controlled sol-gel technique. The TiO(2) NPs were firmly combined on the surfaces of SiO(2) microspheres through the interfacial Si-O-Ti bonds. The coupling causes the bandgap widening up to 3.37 eV, enhancing the photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of acetaldehyde under illumination of UV-light (330 < λ < 400 nm). Density functional theory calculations for model clusters suggested that the observed results are derived from the lowering in the valence band edge energy with the interfacial bond formation.     

Morphology and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 Aerogels

In this paper we describe a methodology to form a data base that will allow us to investigate the correlation between the morphology of Ti?₂ aerogels and their photocatalytic activity with respect to photodecomposition of a water soluble organic compound. We start with a qualitative theoretical argument in which we show that any functionality that involves optimization of different length scale should require some kind of ramified structure. For photocatalytic activity we need to optimize substrate and light absorptions with diffusion of products and reactants. We proceed to describe the techniques that we use to analyze and parametrize the morphology of the aerogels, using nitrogen adsorption and Small Angle Neutron Scattering. The photocatalytic activity is monitored through the photodecomposition of salicylic acid. We compare the adsorption and photodegradation of salicylic acid on the aerogels to many other forms of TiO₂ and report that under our experimental conditions the photocatalytic activity of the aerogels is superior.     

二氧化钛纳米管的制备与光催化活性

用阳极氧化法,室温条件下在含NH4F和H2O的电解液(丙三醇+NH4F+H2O;乙二醇+NH4F+H2O)中制备了TiO2纳米管阵列。用环境扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X射线衍射仪(XRD)表征二氧化钛纳米管阵列的微观形貌和物相结构。在丙三醇电解液中,电压为60 V,65 V,70 V,75 V制备的纳米管直径依次为160、170、190、220 nm。对甲基橙(10 mg/L)降解测试TiO2纳米管阵列的光催化性能。研究结果表明:在100 V阳极电压制备经过500℃退火处理后的TiO2纳米管阵列的光催化效果最好,其光催化降解率在光照时间120 min时达到89.2%。     

Biocidal effects of photocatalytic semiconductor TiO2

Photocatalytic action of the commercial TiO₂ was the subject of study on the destruction of the microbes within the biofilms. The TiO₂ powder was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) for identifying its type and the particle size was determined. The biofilm was allowed to form over TiO₂ coatings over glass slides irradiated with polychromatic light for different time durations and distances. It indicates that a five-fold decrease in bacterial count due to the formation of H₂O₂ at TiO₂/biofilm interface. The formation of H₂O₂ at the TiO₂/biofilm interface is estimated and it does not destroy the entire bacterial population within the biofilm. Bacterial killing effect is supported by FT-IR analysis.     

Adsorption of amino acids on a cerium dioxide surface

Adsorption of glutamic, aspartic, and pteroylglutamic (folic) acids from aqueous solutions on the surface of nanocrystalline cerium dioxide has been studied as depending on the pH and ionic strength of the solutions. Stability constants have been calculated for surface complexes that result from the interaction of anionic forms of the amino acids with protonated surface groups of cerium dioxide. The structure of the surface complexes has been confirmed by IR spectroscopy.     

Adsorption factor and photocatalytic degradation of dye-constituent aromatics on the surface of TiO2 in the presence of phosphate anions

The photocatalytic degradation for some kinds of dye-constituent aromatics with TiO₂ in the presence of phosphate anions in aqueous dispersion was investigated under both visible light (λ>480 nm) and UV irradiation. The influences of phosphate anion upon the degradation of organics under these different conditions was revealed by the measurement of point of zero ξ-potential (P _ZC) of TiO₂, UV-VIS spectra, HPLC and LC-MS. The adsorption and photodegradation of some organics, which adsorb on the surface of TiO₂ by a dominating group bearing a positive charge, was enhanced, while that of others, which adsorb on the surface of TiO₂ by a dominating group bearing negative charge, was depressed by the presence of phosphate anions under UV irradiation at the experimental conditions (pH 4.3). It was confirmed that better adsorption of organics on the surface of TiO₂ had an advantage in their photocatalytic degradation under UV irradiation. On the other hand, although the adsorption of rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene Blue (MB) markedly increased, their degradation under visible light irradiation was depressed in the presence of phosphate anions. It is suggested that phosphate anion greatly blocked the electron transfer from excited RhB and MB molecules as RhB and MB molecules predominantly adsorbed on the surface of TiO₂ through the electrostatic interaction with surface adsorbed phosphate anions.     

Relation between chemical structure of amino acids and their thermal decomposition

The influence of substituents on the thermal decomposition of monomeric organic compounds was studied. For this purpose the thermal destruction of dozen or so α-amino acids of the diversified chemical constitution, among others compounds containing the second amine group, additional carboxyl group, amino acids containing hydroxyl or sulfhydryl groups and amino acids connected with five-member heterocyclic ring or existing in the form of hydrates or hydrochlorides were investigated. The analyses were performed using a derivatograph in an air atmosphere, sample sizes were from 50 to 200 mg and heating rate from 3 to 15 K min^-1. It has been established that the thermal decomposition of studied compounds occurs in three stages. The temperature ranges, in which the analyzed compounds undergo thermal transformations were established. For evaluation of the thermoanalytical results an advanced multivariate data processing method, principal component analysis (PCA), was used. By this method the influence of the specific functional groups on the thermal decomposition of α-amino acids was determined. The stage of decomposition, in which the thermoanalytic data are the best correlated to the chemical constitution of the compound, is the second stage. It has also been recognized, that better discrimination among the analyzed compounds was obtained for the data set of the DTA.     

Comparison of TiO2 powder suspensions and TiO2 ceramic membranes supported on glass as photocatalytic systems in the reduction of chromium(VI)

A comparative study of semiconductor particle suspensions and semiconductor membranes as photocatalytic systems is presented. Both suspensions of TiO₂ powder and TiO₂ ceramic membranes supported on glass act as photocatalysts for the reduction of chromium(VI) to chromium(III). In both cases, the overall kinetic characteristics were the same. The reaction rate increases as pH decreases, and the order of reaction with respect to Cr(VI) is 0.5 at low pH (< 2). For this pH no deactivation of the catalyst is noted. The efficiency of the suspended particles was ca. four times higher than that of the membrane system.     

Adsorption and separation of amino acids from aqueous solutions on zeolites

The adsorption of various amino acids on zeolites with different structures was studied with regard to dependence of the pH value of the solution and the aluminum content of the zeolite in order to design tailor-made adsorbents for amino acid separations.