Chemical synthesis,structural, optical,magnetic characteristics and enhanced visible light active photocatalysis of Ni doped CuS nanoparticles

In this paper, we report systematic investigations on the effects of Ni doping on the structural, optical, magnetic and photocatalytic characteristics of CuS nanoparticles synthesized by simplistic wet chemical co-precipitation route via EDTA molecules as templates. XRD studies confirmed that accurate phase formation of synthesized nanoparticles and chemical composition were obtained by EDX. Magnetic measurements revealed that 3% Ni doped CuS nanoparticles show signs of good ferromagnetism at room temperature and transition of magnetic signs from ferromagnetic to paramagnetic nature by increasing the Ni dopant concentration in CuS host matrix. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the prepared pure and Ni doped CuS nanoparticles were evaluated as a function of simulated sunlight irradiation via RhB organic dye pollutant as a test molecule. Particularly, in the presence of 3% Ni doped CuS nanoparticles in pollutant solution 98.46% degradation efficiency was achieved within 60 min of sunlight irradiation; meanwhile bare CuS attained only 83.22%. Further, after five cycles 3% Ni doping CuS nanoparticles exhibit good photocatalytic stability with very negligible catalyst loss. We believe that the investigations in this study provides adaptable pathway for the synthesizing of various diluted magnetic semiconductor nanoparticles and their applications in spintronic devices as well as sunlight-driven photocatalysts intended for wastewater purification.     

The nature of paramagnetic species in nitrogen doped TiO2 active in visible light photocatalysis

Nitrogen doped TiO2, a novel photocatalyst active in the decomposition of organic pollutants using visible light, contains two different types of paramagnetic centres (neutral NO radicals and NO2(2-) type radical ions respectively) which are likely related to specific properties of the solid.     

耦合氧化石墨烯的N掺杂Bi_2O_2CO_3微球光催化性能增强机制(英文)

光催化作为一种环境友好技术,在解决环境污染和能源匮乏问题方面展现出巨大应用潜力.TiO_2因其化学稳定性、无毒和低成本被广泛应用于能源转换和污染物降解等领域,但其快速的电子-空穴复合与低太阳能利用率等限制了其在光催化中的潜在应用.因此,寻找新的有优越可见光活性的催化剂是一个挑战.最近,(BiO)_2CO_3因其独特的形貌、化学稳定性和较高的催化效率成为有前景的光催化剂.然而,(BiO)_2CO_3较大的带隙限制了对太阳光的利用,快速的电子-空穴复合阻碍了光催化性能的提高.因此,提高(BiO)_2CO_3的光催化效率是当务之急.近期研究表明,通过与氧化石墨烯杂交提高载流子的分离能力,可有效增强光催化性能.基于此,我们设计并合成了一种氮掺杂的(BiO)_2CO_3与氧化石墨烯(GO)耦合的新型光催化剂(N-BOC-GO).首先,通过一步水热法合成了N-BOC-GO微球.N-BOC-GO光催化剂对NO可见光光催化去除性能达到62%.采用X射线衍射(XRD)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、紫外-可见漫反射光谱(UV-Vis)和光致发光光谱(PL)等表征手段研究了N-BOC-GO的光催化性能增强机制.从N-BOC-GO的XRD谱中没有发现GO的衍射峰,说明加入的GO分散度高;N-BOC-GO中的BOC晶格参数没有发生变化,说明GO没有进入BOC晶格,但加入GO增强了N-BOC的结晶度.XPS结果表明,与N-BOC相比,N-BOC-GO的峰位置发生了明显位移,表明N-BOC和GO之间存在强相互作用.此外,FT-IR和拉曼光谱证明了在复合物中存在GO.SEM表明,N-BOC规则地团聚成微球,且微球被固定在有褶皱的GO片上.这说明GO与N-BOC的作用是静电作用或物理作用,在光激发过程中有利于N-BOC微球上的电子转移到GO片上.UV-Vis图谱中,N-BOC-GO表现出明显增强的可见光吸收,说明加入GO会明显提高N-BOC的吸收能力.此外,3D分层结构会通过SSR效应提高光吸收.从PL图可以发现,N-BOC-GO的电子-空穴复合明显下降,说明GO可以转移电子从而提高光催化性能.结合前面的分析,我们提出了N-BOC-GO光催化剂3D分层结构的形成和性能增强机制.在水热过程中,通过分子间相互作用使N-BOC自组装成块,随后在表面能最小化的作用下转化成3D微球.加入GO后,N-BOC和GO通过物理吸附使得N-BOC微球均匀分散在GO上,最后N-BOC-GO的形貌类似于玫瑰花和其叶子的组合.在可见光照射下,N-BOC产生电子-空穴对,电子从N-BOC表面转移到GO表面,表明GO可作为电子的收集者和传递者以有效分离电子-空穴对,延长载流子寿命.N-BOC价带上的空穴可以直接氧化NO或产生?OH氧化NO.此外,由于GO独特的特征,光催化反应发生在N-BOC催化剂表面和GO片上,从而提高了反应空间位点.故引入GO于N-BOC体系中可有效分离光生载流子和提高反应活性位点,从而显著提高可见光催化性能.     

Aerobic oxidation of aldehydes by visible light photocatalysis

An efficient and environmentally benign method for the oxidation of aldehydes to carboxylic acids has been developed. Singlet oxygen, generated by visible light in the presence of a Ru or Ir photocatalyst, reacted with aldehydes to give the corresponding carboxylic acids in excellent yields. The reaction is highly chemo-selective, in which only an aldehyde moiety is reactive even in the presence of other photo-oxidation active sites. This method is an example of an ideal green chemical reaction in the sense that molecular oxygen and visible light are key sources for the transformation.     

Stacked graphene nanofibers doped polypyrrole nanocomposites for electrochemical sensing

This publication shows a single-step electropolymerization which has been carried out by the incorporation of an anionic stacked graphene nanofiber (SGNF) dopant into a polypyrrole (PPy) film, at a disposable screen-printed electrode. The incorporation of the SGNFs into the polymer does not affect their electrochemical properties, shown through cyclic voltammetry by the earlier oxidation of guanine, when compared with that at the graphite doped PPy electrode. The SGNF/PPy composite shows a high selectivity when used in the oxidation of guanine and hydrogen peroxide, both of which are important biomarkers used for biosensing. Disposable screen-printed electrodes provide an inexpensive, sensitive and portable substitute to glassy carbon electrodes, while giving a reproducible surface; qualities essential for effective bionsensing. The production of this single-step disposable SGNF/PPy composite electrode allows for further applications in the detection of biomedically important compounds and DNA sensing.     

Radical cation Diels-Alder cycloadditions by visible light photocatalysis

Ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes promote the efficient radical cation Diels-Alder cycloaddition of electron-rich dienophiles upon irradiation with visible light. These reactions enable facile [4 + 2] cycloadditions that would be electronically mismatched under thermal conditions. Key to the success of this methodology is the availability of ligand-modified ruthenium complexes that enable rational tuning of the electrochemical properties of the catalyst without significantly perturbing the overall photophysical properties of the system.     

Electrospun nanofibers of TiO2/CdS heteroarchitectures with enhanced photocatalytic activity by visible light

Herein, we have demonstrated that the electrospun nanofibers of TiO(2)/CdS heteroarchitectures could be fabricated through combining electrospinning technique with hydrothermal process. The configuration, crystal structure, and element composition of the as-prepared TiO(2)/CdS heteroarchitectures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), resonant Raman spectrometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that the high-density hexagonal wurtzite CdS crystalline particles of ca. 6-40 nm in diameter were uniformly and closely grown on anatase TiO(2) nanofibers. Especially, the light-absorption properties as well as photocatalytic characteristics of pure TiO(2) nanofibers and TiO(2)/CdS heteroarchitectures with different amount loading of CdS were also investigated. The absorption of TiO(2)/CdS heteroarchitectures was extended to the visible due to effective immobilization of sensitizing agent CdS on TiO(2). In contrast with the pure TiO(2) nanofibers, the TiO(2)/CdS heteroarchitectures showed excellent photocatalytic activity by using rhodamine B dye as a model organic substrate under visible-light irradiation. It was worth noting that the cooperative photocatalytic mechanism of the TiO(2)/CdS heteroarchitectures was also discussed.     

大规模合成非贵金属磷化物/CdS复合光催化剂高效可见光催化产氢（英文）

目前,在可见光照射下光催化产氢是一条解决能源短缺的理想途径.该途径实现工业化的两个关键因素是得到低成本的光催化剂和高的产氢效率.非贵金属助催化剂代替贵金属可大大降低光催化剂的成本.通过简单的方法大规模合成并组装半导体和非贵金属助催化剂以形成复合光催化剂可进一步降低成本.本文采用大规模和低成本的共沉淀法合成了磷化物/CdS光催化剂,实现了光催化产氢.当负载CoP和Mo P助催化剂后,光催化产氢活性得到大幅度提高.其中CoP/CdS和Mo P/CdS的最佳产氢量分别为140和78μmol/h,并分别为CdS的7.0倍和4.0倍,分别为Pt/CdS的2.0倍和1.1倍.这说明磷化物CoP和Mo P是具有优良催化活性的低成本非贵金属助催化剂,可以代替贵金属助催化剂应用在光催化产H_2中.在制备磷化物/CdS时,先将两种磷化物反应原料分别在水热反应釜和马弗炉中煅烧合成前驱体,再分别在管式炉氮气和氢气氛围中进行磷化得到磷化物Mo P和CoP.然后,将得到的Mo P和CoP分别溶解在Cd(NO_3)_2·4H_2O溶液中,在搅拌状态下逐滴加入Na_2S溶液形成沉淀,即可得到复合物磷化物/CdS.CoP/CdS和Mo P/CdS的HRTEM观察显示,磷化物助催化剂与CdS半导体紧密结合,证明了共沉淀法制备助催化剂/半导体复合光催化剂的有效性.磷化物与CdS的紧密结合促进了光激发电子从CdS向磷化物转移,从而大大提高了光催化产氢活性.这项工作为低成本大规模制备光催化剂和光催化产H_2实现工业化提供了一条可行性思路.     

Effect of visible light onto self-assembly in l-cysteine-silver solution

Russian Chemical Bulletin - Effects of irradiation with visible light on the process of self-assembly in an aqueous l-cysteine-silver solution (CSS) and hydrogels based on were investigated using a...     

Bandgap engineering of SrTiO3/NaTaO3 heterojunction for visible light photocatalysis

Hybrid density functional of HSE06 has been adopted to investigate the geometry and electronic properties of SrTiO₃/NaTaO₃ heterostructures in contrast with the cubic SrTiO₃ and cubic NaTaO₃. The SrTiO₃/NaTaO₃ heterostructures with varied monolayers of SrTiO₃ and NaTaO₃ units are constructed, and all the heterojunction systems have the smaller bandgaps as compared with those of pure SrTiO₃ and NaTaO₃. For the (SrTiO₃)_m/(NaTaO₃)_n (m + n = 10) systems, the bandgap decreases in the order of m = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, while the bandgap increases in the order of m = 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. We also investigate the (SrTiO₃)_m/(NaTaO₃)_m systems (m = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), and the calculated results suggest that the (SrTiO₃)₆/(NaTaO₃)₆ system has the smallest bandgap of 2.58 eV in our considered systems. This study indicates the development of SrTiO₃/NaTaO₃ heterojunction is a promising way to improve the photocatalytic activities of SrTiO₃ and NaTaO₃.     

S-doped graphene quantum dots as nanophotocatalyst for visible light degradation

S-doped graphene quantum dots (S-GQDs) with well crystallization and monodispersity were prepared and applied as novel nanophotocatalyst for visible light degradation of basic fuchsin.     

Flower-like Au/Ag/TiO_2 nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic efficiency under visible light irradiation

Uniform flower-like TiO_2 coated Au nanostars and core-shell Au@Ag natiostars with different amounts of Ag coating were prepared through a facile method by hydrolysis of TiF_4 under an acidic environment.The photocatalytic capability of these flower-like nanocomposites under visible light irradiation was found to be enhanced by up to 4.7-fold compared to commercial P25 TiO_2 nanoparticles.The enhanced photocatalytic activity was ascribed to improved light absorption and hot electron injection from the photo-excited Au@Ag core to the TiO_2 shell.     

Co doped ZnO nanowires as visible light photocatalysts

High aspect ratio cobalt doped ZnO nanowires showing strong photocatalytic activity and moderate ferromagnetic behaviour were successfully synthesized using a solvothermal method and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and UV–visible absorption spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activities evaluated for visible light driven degradation of an aqueous methylene orange (MO) solution were higher than for Co doped ZnO nanoparticles at the same doping level and synthesized by the same synthesis route. The rate constant for MO visible light photocatalytic degradation was 1.9·10⁻³ min⁻¹ in case of nanoparticles and 4.2·10⁻³ min⁻¹ in case of nanowires. We observe strongly enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity for moderate Co doping levels, with an optimum at a composition of Zn_0.95Co_0.05O. The enhanced photocatalytic activities of Co doped ZnO nanowires were attributed to the combined effects of enhanced visible light absorption at the Co sites in ZnO nanowires, and improved separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers at optimal Co doping.     

One-pot solvothermal synthesis of ZnTe/RGO nanocomposites and enhanced visible-light photocatalysis

Zinc telluride/reduced graphene oxide (ZnTe/RGO) nanocomposites are synthesized by a one-pot, facile, solvothermal process using hydrazine hydrate as the reducing agent. Hydrazine hydrate not only promoted the formation of ZnTe nanoparticles but also reduced GO to RGO. The formation of ZnTe/RGO is demonstrated by different techniques. In addition, the experimental results suggest a possible formation mechanism of these nanocomposites. Finally, due to the transfer of the photo-generated electrons between ZnTe and RGO resulting in low electrons/holes recombination, the as-prepared nanocomposites of ZnTe/RGO exhibited strongly enhanced photocatalytic activity for the bleaching of methyl blue (MB) dye under visible light irradiation.     

Hole mediated coupling in Sr2Nb2O7 for visible light photocatalysis

The band gap reduction and effective utilization of visible solar light are possible by introducing the anionic hole-hole mediated coupling in Sr(2)Nb(2)O(7). By using the first principles calculations, we have investigated the mono- and co-anionic doping (S, N and C) in layered perovskite Sr(2)Nb(2)O(7) for the visible-light photocatalysis. Our electronic structure and optical absorption study shows that the mono- (N and S) and co-anionic doped (N-N and C-S) Sr(2)Nb(2)O(7) systems are promising materials for the visible light photocatalysis. The calculated binding energies show that if the hole-hole mediated coupling could be introduced, the co-doped systems would be more stable than their respective mono-doped systems. Optical absorption curves indicate that doping S, (N-N) and (C-S) in Sr(2)Nb(2)O(7) can harvest a longer wavelength of the visible light spectrum as compared to the pure Sr(2)Nb(2)O(7) for efficient photocatalysis.     

Efficient visible light photocatalysis of [2+2] enone cycloadditions

We report that Ru(bipy)3Cl2 can serve as a visible light photocatalyst for [2+2] enone cycloadditions. A variety of aryl enones participate readily in the reaction, and the diastereoselectivity in the formation of the cyclobutane products is excellent. We propose a mechanism in which a photogenerated Ru(bipy)3+ complex promotes one-electron reduction of the enone substrate, which undergoes subsequent radical anion cycloaddition. The efficiency of this process is extremely high, which allows rapid, high-yielding [2+2] cyclizations to be conducted using incident sunlight as the only source of irradiation.     

非金属光敏剂石墨烯量子点与磷化镍耦合用于可见光光催化制氢（英文）

利用光催化反应制取氢气是满足未来能源可持续利用的一个很有效的方法.然而,如何去开发和利用高效且稳定的非金属光催化剂用于产氢反应是目前所面临的一个巨大的挑战.最近,非金属纳米碳基材料由于其诸多优点而吸引了人们广泛的关注,比如价格低廉、环境友好和良好的稳定性等.另外,石墨烯量子点由于具有很好的水溶性、低毒性,良好的生物兼容性和很好的光学稳定性等优点而被当作是一种能够替代传统量子点的很有前途的材料.除此之外,石墨烯量子点的带隙还可以通过控制其颗粒大小和其表面所带的官能团来进行灵活调控.另一方面,金属磷化物(磷化镍、磷化钴等)已经被证实了是很好的水分解制氢的非贵金属助催化剂,它们可以加快光生电子和空穴的分离,从而提高光催化活性.本文利用非金属光敏剂石墨烯量子点与非贵金属助催化磷化镍进行耦合制备复合光催化剂,实现了在可见光照射下进行光催化制氢.在最优条件下,复合光催化剂的产氢速率为空白石墨烯量子点的94倍,甚至与在空白量子点上负载1.0wt%Pt的产氢速率相当.产氢速率的大幅度提升可能是由于在石墨烯的量子点和磷化镍之间形成了半导体–金属接触界面,从而更有效地促进了光生载流子的传输过程.石墨烯量子点本身有着很好的水溶性,从而利用机械搅拌的方法与磷化镍进行耦合,并在可见光下进行产氢反应.本文采用红外光谱(FTIR)、透射电镜(TEM)、紫外可见光谱(UV-Vis)和荧光光谱(PL)等表征手段研究了空白量子点表面所带的官能团、尺寸大小和光学性能.采用TEM和PL等表征手段来研究复合光催化剂的形貌和产氢性能提高的原因.对于空白量子点,FTIR结果表明,其表面带有–OH等官能团;TEM结果表明,它的尺寸大小大概在3.6±0.5 nm;UV-Vis结果表明,其在可见光区域有着很强的光吸收;PL结果表明,其在波长约为540 nm处有着很强的吸收峰,所对应的带隙约为2.3 eV.对于复合光催化剂,TEM测试结果表明石墨烯量子点在磷化镍上随机分布;从PL结果可见,复合光催化剂的荧光强度明显降低,说明了光生电子从量子点到磷化镍的有效转移,这也是光催化活性提高的重要原因     

3+2] cycloadditions of aryl cyclopropyl ketones by visible light photocatalysis

We report a new method for the formal [3+2] reaction of aryl cyclopropyl ketones with olefins to generate highly substituted cyclopentane ring systems. The key initiation step in this process is the one-electron reduction of the ketone to the corresponding radical anion, which is accomplished using a photocatalytic system comprising Ru(bpy)(3)(2+), La(OTf)(3), and TMEDA.