Rational Synthesis of Amorphous Iron‐Nickel Phosphonates for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Water Oxidation with Almost 100 % Yield

A simple solvent ligation effect was successfully used to disrupt the growth of a model compound, Fe[(OH)(O₃P(CH₂)₂CO₂H)]?H₂O (MIL‐37), into an extended 2D structure by replacing water with dimethylformamide (DMF) as the solvent during the synthesis. Owing to the lack of ?OH group, which provides the corner‐sharing (binding) oxygen atoms for the octahedra, an amorphous and porous structure is formed. When Fe³⁺ is partially replaced by Ni²⁺, the amorphous structure remains and the resultant binary metal catalyst displays excellent photocatalytic oxygen evolution activity with almost 100 % yield achieved under visible light irradiation using [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺ as the photosensitizer. This study opens up new possibilities of using the simple solvent effect to synthesize high surface area metal phosphonates for catalytic and other applications.     

Core Cross‐Linked Micelle‐Based Nanoreactors for Efficient Photocatalysis

Stable nanoscale cross‐linked polymer micelles containing Ru complexes (Ru‐CMs) were prepared from monomethoxy[poly(ethylene glycol)]‐block‐poly(L ‐lysine) (MPEG‐PLys) and [(bpy)₂Ru(fmbpy)](PF₆)₂ (bpy=bipyridine, fmbpy=5‐formy‐5′‐methyl‐2,2′‐bipyridine). To stabilize the micelles, bifunctional glutaraldehyde was used as a cross‐linker to react with the free amino groups of the PLys block. After that, the Ru‐CMs showed very good stability in common solvents. The Ru‐CMs showed photocatalytic activity and selectivity in the oxidation of sulfides that were as high as those of the well‐known [Ru(bpy)₃(PF₆)₂] complex, because the micelles were swollen in the methanol–sulfide mixture. Moreover, because of the nanoscale size of the particles and their high stability, the Ru‐CM photocatalysts can be readily recovered by ultrafiltration and reused without loss of photocatalytic activity. This work highlights the potential of using cross‐linked micelles as a platform for developing highly efficient heterogeneous photocatalysts for a number of important organic transformations.     

A Simple Method for the Preparation of TiO2/Ag‐AgCl@Polypyrrole Composite and Its Enhanced Visible‐Light Photocatalytic Activity

A novel and facile method was developed to prepare a visible‐light driven TiO₂/Ag‐AgCl@polypyrrole (PPy) photocatalyst with Ag‐AgCl nanoparticles supported on TiO₂ nanofibers and covered by a thin PPy shell. During the synthesis, the PPy shell and Ag‐AgCl nanoparticles were prepared simultaneously onto TiO₂ nanofibers, which simplified the preparation procedure. In addition, because Ag‐AgCl aggregates were fabricated via partly etching the Ag nanoparticles, their size was well controlled at the nanoscale, which was beneficial for improvement of the contact surface area. Compared with reference photocatalysts, the TiO₂/Ag‐AgCl@PPy composite exhibited an enhanced photodegradation activity towards rhodamine B under visible‐light irradiation. The superior photocatalytic property originated from synergistic effects between TiO₂ nanofibers, Ag‐AgCl nanoparticles and the PPy shell. Furthermore, the TiO₂/Ag‐AgCl@PPy composite could be easily separated and recycled without obvious reduction in activity.     

Sonochemical Synthesis of Ag/AgCl Nanocubes and Their Efficient Visible‐Light‐Driven Photocatalytic Performance

A novel one‐step sonochemical approach to synthesize a plasmonic photocatalyst of AgCl nanocubes (ca. 115 nm in edge length) with a small amount of Ag metal species is presented. The nanoscale Ag/AgCl hybrid photocatalysts with cubic morphology are readily formed under ambient ultrasonic conditions and neither external heat treatment nor reducing agents are required. The size of the Ag/AgCl photocatalysts could be controlled by changing the concentrations of Ag⁺ ions and polyvinylpyrrolidone molecules in precursor solutions. The compositions, microstructures, influencing factors, and possible growth mechanism of the Ag/AgCl hybrid nanocubes were systematically investigated. The Ag/AgCl photocatalysts show excellent photocatalytic performance for degradation of various dye molecules under visible light.     

Controllable Synthesis of Hexagonal WO3 Nanoplates for Efficient Visible‐Light‐Driven Photocatalytic Oxygen Production

Facilitating charge‐carrier separation and transfer is fundamentally important to improve the photocatalytic performance of semiconductor materials. Herein, two‐dimensional hexagonal WO₃ nanoplates were synthesized by a two‐step route: rapid evaporation and solid‐phase sintering. The as‐prepared WO₃ exhibits an enhanced activity of photocatalytic water oxidation compared to bulk monoclinic WO₃. The electron dynamics analysis reveals that a more efficient charge‐carrier separation in the former can be obtained, the origin of which can be attributed to an increased number of surface defects in hexagonal WO₃ nanoplates. This work not only presents a novel and simple method to produce two‐dimensional hexagonal WO₃ nanoplates, but also demonstrates that surface defects and two‐dimensional geometric structures can promote the charge separation, which may be extended to the design of other efficient photocatalysts.     

Highly Dispersed Polyoxometalate‐Doped Porous Co3O4 Water Oxidation Photocatalysts Derived from POM@MOF Crystalline Materials

Rational design of earth‐abundant photocatalysts is an important issue for solar energy conversion and storage. Polyoxometalate (POM)@Co₃O₄ composites doped with highly dispersive molecular metal–oxo clusters, synthesized by loading a single Keggin‐type POM cluster into each confined space of a metal–organic framework (MOF), exhibit significantly improved photocatalytic activity in water oxidation compared to the pure MOF‐derived nanostructure. The systematic synthesis of these composite nanocrystals allows the conditions to be tuned, and their respective water oxidation catalytic performance can be efficiently adjusted by varying the thermal treatment temperature and the feeding amount of the POM. This work not only provides a modular and tunable synthetic strategy for preparing molecular cluster@TM oxide (TM=transition metal) nanostructures, but also showcases a universal strategy that is applicable to design and construct multifunctional nanoporous metal oxide composite materials.     

Efficient Noble‐Metal‐Free γ‐Fe2O3@NiO Core–Shell Nanostructured Photocatalysts for Water Oxidation

Flowerlike noble‐metal‐free γ‐Fe₂O₃@NiO core–shell hierarchical nanostructures have been fabricated and examined as a catalyst in the photocatalytic oxidation of water with [Ru(bpy)₃](ClO₄)₂ as a photosensitizer and Na₂S₂O₈ as a sacrificial electron acceptor. An apparent TOF of 0.29 μmols^?1 m^?2 and oxygen yield of 51 % were obtained with γ‐Fe₂O₃@NiO. The γ‐Fe₂O₃@NiO core–shell hierarchical nanostructures could be easily separated from the reaction solution whilst maintaining excellent water‐oxidation activity in the fourth and fifth runs. The surface conditions of γ‐Fe₂O₃@NiO also remained unchanged after the photocatalytic reaction, as confirmed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).     

TiO2 Nanoparticles in Mesoporous TUD‐1: Synthesis,Characterization and Photocatalytic Performance in Propane Oxidation

A series of TiO₂‐TUD‐1 samples was synthesized with a variable Ti loading in the range Si/Ti=100, 20, 2.5, and 1.6, by using a one‐pot surfactant‐free procedure. The materials obtained were characterized by elemental analysis; X‐ray diffraction (XRD); N₂ sorption measurements; high‐resolution TEM (HR‐TEM); ²⁹Si NMR, UV‐visible and Raman spectroscopy. As a function of increasing metal loading either isolated Ti atoms, or (above a Ti loading of ～2.5 wt‐ %) combinations of isolated Ti atoms and anatase (TiO₂) nanoparticles were obtained; both were incorporated in the highly porous siliceous matrix. The photocatalytic performance of these materials was tested by studying the propane oxidation process following irradiation at λ=365 nm, selectively activating the anatase nanoparticles. In comparison to commercial anatase powder, TiO₂ nanoparticles in TUD‐1 showed high photochemical selectivity towards acetone, the sample with a Si/Ti ratio of 1.6 being the most selective. Size and confinement effects are consistent with the difference in performance of the TUD‐1 materials and TiO₂, limiting the number of electron transfers available for each propane molecule.     

A Facile Molecular Precursor‐based Synthesis of Ag2Se Nanoparticles and Its Composites with TiO2 for Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

The reactions of different silver(I) reagents AgX (X^?=iodide, trifluoroacetate, triflate) with selenoethers R₂Se (R=Me, tBu) in a variety of solvents were investigated in relation with their use as precursors for Ag₂Se nanomaterials. Different reaction conditions led to different reactivities and afforded either molecular complexes or metal selenide nanoparticles. The reactions leading to in situ formation of the metal selenide nanoparticles were then extended in the presence of commercial TiO₂ (P25) to prepare silver selenide–titania nanocomposites with different Ag/Ti ratios. These nanocomposites, well characterized by elemental analysis (Ag, Se), PXRD, TEM, BET, XPS and UV/Vis studies, were investigated as photocatalysts for the degradation of formic acid (FA) solution. The xAg₂Se‐TiO₂ nanocomposites (x=0.01, 0.13 and 0.25 mol %) exhibited a much higher catalytic activity as compared to P25, which is an established benchmark for the photocatalysis under UV light, and retained a good photocatalytic stability after recycling for several times.     

MoO3/TiO2 和WO3/TiO2 光催化分子氧氧化甲烷的活性

以Ｓｏｌ－Ｇｅｌ法制备的、表面积和孔径相近的含水ＭｏＯ３／ＴｉＯ２、ＷＯ３／ＴｉＯ２为催化剂,光催化分子氧氧化甲烷,初步研究表明,催化剂的活性高于ＴｉＯ２,且有少量的甲醇生成。     

DFT Simulations of Water Adsorption and Activation on Low‐Index α‐Ga2O3 Surfaces

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are used to explore water adsorption and activation on different α‐Ga₂O₃ surfaces, namely (001), (100), (110), and (012). The geometries and binding energies of molecular and dissociative adsorption are studied as a function of coverage. The simulations reveal that dissociative water adsorption on all the studied low‐index surfaces are thermodynamically favorable. Analysis of surface energies suggests that the most preferentially exposed surface is (012). The contribution of surface relaxation to the respective surface energies is significant. Calculations of electron local density of states indicate that the electron‐energy band gaps for the four investigated surfaces appears to be less related to the difference in coordinative unsaturation of the surface atoms, but rather to changes in the ionicity of the surface chemical bonds. The electrochemical computation is used to investigate the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on α‐Ga₂O₃ surfaces. Our results indicate that the (100) and (110) surfaces, which have low stability, are the most favorable ones for HER and OER, respectively.     

WO3/TiO2纳米棒复合材料的制备及其光催化活性

 以纳米 TiO2 (P25) 为前驱体, 采用水热-煅烧法制备了具有大比表面积和高紫外光催化活性的 TiO2 纳米棒 (TiO2-NRs), 并考察了热处理温度对其形貌、晶型、比表面积及光催化活性的影响. 以400 oC 热处理制得的 TiO2-NRs 为载体, 采用溶胶-凝胶法制得负载型 WO3/TiO2-NRs 复合光催化剂, 并使用透射电镜、X 射线衍射和X 射线电子能谱等手段对其进行了表征. 结果表明, WO3 负载量为 2% 时, WO3/TiO2-NRs 的光催化活性是 P25 的 5 倍. 对 1 × 10?5 mol/L 罗丹明 B 溶液的脱色反应结果表明, 该催化剂具有高速染料脱色特性. 同时对光催化机理进行了探讨.     

Visible‐Light‐Induced Selective Photocatalytic Aerobic Oxidation of Amines into Imines on TiO2

Imines are important intermediates for the synthesis of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural chemicals. Selective oxidation of amines into their corresponding imines with dioxygen is one of the most‐fundamental chemical transformations. Herein, we report the oxidation of a series of benzylic amines into their corresponding imines with atmospheric dioxygen as the oxidant on a surface of anatase TiO₂ under visible‐light irradiation (λ>420 nm). The visible‐light response of this system was caused by the formation of a surface complex through the adsorption of a benzylic amine onto the surface of TiO₂. From the analysis of products of specially designed benzylic amines, we demonstrated that a highly selective oxygenation reaction proceeds via an oxygen‐transfer mechanism to afford the corresponding carbonyl compound, whose further condensation with an amine would generate the final imine product. We found that when primary benzylic amines (13 examples), were chosen as the substrates, moderate to excellent selectivities for the imine products were achieved (ca. 38–94 %) in moderate to excellent conversion rates (ca. 44–95 %). When secondary benzylic amines (15 examples) were chosen as the substrates, both the corresponding imines and aldehydes were detected as the main products with moderate to high conversion rates (ca. 18–100 %) and lower selectivities for the imine products (ca. 14–69 %). When tribenzylamine was chosen as the substrate, imine (27 %), dibenzylamine (24 %), and benzaldehyde products (39 %) were obtained in a conversion of 50 %. This report can be viewed as a prototypical system for the activation of C? H bonds adjacent to heteroatoms such as N, O, and S atoms, and oxofuctionalization with air or dioxygen as the terminal oxidant under visible‐light irradiation using TiO₂ as the photocatalyst.     

Surface Engineering of Conjugated Polybenzothiadiazoles and Integration with Cobalt Oxides for Photocatalytic Water Oxidation

Conjugated polymers feature promising structure and properties for photocatalytic water splitting. Herein, a hydrolysis strategy was demonstrated to rationally modulate the surface hydrophilicity and band structures of conjugated poly-benzothiadiazoles. High hydrophilicity not only enhances the dispersions of polymeric solids in an aqueous solution but also reduces the absorption energy of water molecules. Besides, both theoretical and experimental results reveal that a more positive valence band potential is generated, which contributes to enhancing the photocatalytic water oxidation performance. Accordingly, the surface-modified conjugated polymers show largely promoted photocatalytic water oxidation activities by deposition of cobalt oxides as cocatalysts.     

Synthesis and Studies of the Visible‐Light Photocatalytic Properties of Near‐Monodisperse Bi‐Doped TiO2 Nanospheres

Near‐monodisperse Bi‐doped anatase TiO₂ nanospheres with almost uniform diameters in the range of 117 to 87 nm were prepared simply by introducing different amounts of bismuth nitrate pentahydrate into the reaction system and subsequent calcinations. X‐ray diffraction, UV‐visible diffuse reflectance spectra, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm that the doped ions substitute some of the lattice titanium atoms, and furthermore, Bi³⁺ and Bi⁴⁺ ions coexist. All the Bi‐doped TiO₂ samples show much better photocatalytic activity than pure TiO₂ in the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under the irradiation of visible light (λ>420 nm), and, interestingly, it was found that the degradation mechanism is different from the conventional one, which has already been reported elsewhere. The detailed mechanism is discussed in this article.     

Prussian Blue Type Cocatalysts for Enhancing the Photocatalytic Water Oxidation Performance of BiVO4

The efficiency of photocatalytic overall water splitting reactions is usually limited by the high energy barrier and complex multiple electron-transfer processes of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Although bismuth vanadate (BiVO₄) as the photocatalyst has been developed for enhancing the kinetics of the water oxidation reaction, it still suffers from challenges of fast recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and poor photocatalytic activity. Herein, six M^II-Co^III Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) (M=Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) cocatalysts are synthesized and deposited on the surface of BiVO₄ for boosting the surface catalytic efficiency and enhancing photogenerated carries separation efficiency of BiVO₄. Six M^II-Co^III PBAs@BiVO₄ photocatalysts all demonstrate increased photocatalytic water oxidation performance compared to that of BiVO₄ alone. Among them, the Co−Co PBA@BiVO₄ photocatalyst is employed as a representative research object and is thoroughly characterized by electrochemistry, electronic microscope as well as multiple spectroscopic analyses. Notably, BiVO₄ coupling with Co−Co PBA cocatalyst could capture more photons than that of pure BiVO₄, facilitating the transfer of photogenerated charge carriers between BiVO₄ and Co−Co PBA as well as the surface catalytic efficiency of BiVO₄. Overall, this work would promote the synthesis strategy development for exploring new types of composite photocatalysts for water oxidation.     

Modification of Wide‐Band‐Gap Oxide Semiconductors with Cobalt Hydroxide Nanoclusters for Visible‐Light Water Oxidation

Cobalt‐based compounds, such as cobalt(II) hydroxide, are known to be good catalysts for water oxidation. Herein, we report that such cobalt species can also activate wide‐band‐gap semiconductors towards visible‐light water oxidation. Rutile TiO₂ powder, a well‐known wide‐band‐gap semiconductor, was capable of harvesting visible light with wavelengths of up to 850 nm, and thus catalyzed water oxidation to produce molecular oxygen, when decorated with cobalt(II) hydroxide nanoclusters. To the best of our knowledge, this system constitutes the first example that a particulate photocatalytic material that is capable of water oxidation upon excitation by visible light can also operate at such long wavelengths, even when it is based on earth‐abundant elements only.     

Redox‐Mediated Synthesis of a Fe3O4–MnO2 Nanocomposite for Dye Adsorption and Pseudocapacitance

A logically chosen redox reaction of submerged Fe⁰ in an aqueous KMnO₄ solution has been reported. The template‐free reaction conditions produced gram amounts of a hierarchical flowerlike Fe₃O₄–MnO₂ nanocomposite. More precisely, freshly prepared Fe⁰ nanoparticles were prepared from air‐free hot water under submerged conditions using a door magnet. The black Fe⁰ particles were oxidized in water quantitatively by KMnO₄ in the solution phase and the nanocomposite was prepared. The material has been used as a dye adsorbent and the representative cationic dye uptake, recovery, and recycling of the dye becomes easy owing to the ferromagnetic properties and surface negative charge of the material. The nanocomposite also showed a higher specific capacitance (327 F g^?1 at 10 mV s^?1) than the reported values of pure MnO₂ and Fe₃O₄. The material exhibited a high energy density as well as a high power density, and remained stable even after a large number of charge–discharge cycles.