Photocatalytic degradation of methyl red by porous zinc hydroxide under visible light irradiation

In the present study, porous zinc hydroxide was successfully prepared via a simple sol–gel route. The synthesized porous zinc hydroxide was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) techniques. In addition, the prepared porous zinc hydroxide was studied as a photocatalyst for the degradation of methyl red. The degradation behavior of porous zinc hydroxide was investigated systematically. The experimental results showed that the obtained porous zinc hydroxide displayed excellent degradation efficiency (89%) under visible light irradiation. Thus, porous zinc hydroxide can be used as an effective photocatalyst for the degradation of methyl red, which can be used for industrial wastewater treatment.     

四氧化三铁包覆磷酸银复合光催化剂的可见光催化性能

利用沉淀法制备了四氧化三铁包覆的磷酸银高效可见光催化剂;采用X射线粉末衍射仪、固体紫外可见漫反射光谱仪及荧光光谱仪分析了催化剂的晶体结构和光学性质.与此同时,以光催化降解亚甲基蓝(MB)为探针反应,对催化剂的可见光催化性能进行了考察.结果表明,Fe3O4负载量为2%(质量分数)的复合催化剂对MB的降解率在60min时几乎达到100%;但随着Fe3O4负载量的增加,催化剂的光催化活性有所下降.     

Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue over N-doped MnWO4 under visible light irradiation

In recent years, the transition-metal tungstate materials with formula MWO₄ have attracted much attention in photocatalytic environmental purification due to their interesting structural and optical properties. Among the others, manganese tungstate (MnWO₄) has attracted particular attention because of its appropriate bandgap energy (2.67 ​eV) with tunable optical and electrical properties, chemical stability, and low cost which makes a suitable photocatalyst. Nevertheless, the manganese tungstate (MnWO₄) based materials are less explored as visible light responsive photocatalysts for wastewater purification. Hence, both parent and N-doped MnWO₄ are synthesized by a hydrothermal method with different nitrogen contents (5, 10, and 15 ​mol%). The as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM-EDS, TEM-SAED, FT-IR, UV–Vis DRS, XPS and PL techniques. The photocatalytic activities of the synthesized samples were evaluated by degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under the visible light irradiation. All the N-doped MnWO₄ samples exhibited enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity compared to the parent MnWO₄, and the optimal dopant amount of nitrogen was 15 mol% for the best photocatalytic activity. The active species generated during the process of MB degradation are investigated by scavenging experiments. Further, the reusability of the 15 ​mol% N-doped MnWO₄ photocatalyst was examined in three consecutive catalytic runs.     

Photocatalytic activity of silicon nanowires under UV and visible light irradiation

The communication reports on the high performance of hydrogen-terminated silicon nanowires and silicon nanowires coated with metal (Ag, Cu) nanostructures for the photodegradation of rhodamine B under UV and visible light irradiation.     

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water on SiC under visible light irradiation

A kind of green SiC fine powder was characterized by XRD and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance, and studied in the photocatalytic splitting of water. The results showed that the green SiC fine powder can absorb visible light and split water with the formation of hydrogen under visible light irradiation. The activity is affected significantly by the initial pH of solutions and the types of cheap reagents, where the addition of OH⁻ or S²⁻ leads to a remarkable increase in the activity.     

Aerobic oxidative esterification of benzyl alcohols with catalytic tetrabromomethane under visible light irradiation

We report a useful method for the facile synthesis of aromatic esters from benzyl alcohols with molecular oxygen and catalytic tetrabromomethane in alcohol under visible light irradiation with a fluorescent lamp. This is the first metal-free reaction using molecular oxygen as the terminal oxidant.     

Facile synthesis of phenacyl iodides from styrenes under visible light irradiation with fluorescent lamps

Phenacyl iodides were easily synthesized from styrenes with iodine under irradiation of visible light from a fluorescent lamp.     

The carbonylation of phenyl bromide and its derivatives under visible light irradiation

The carbonylation of phenyl bromide catalyzed by Co（OAc）₂ has been investigated with PhCOPh as a sensitizer under visible light in the presence of basic additive.With strong base CH₃ONa,PhCOOCH₃ is produced in 70%yield with 100%selectivity,the similar results are also obtained with a stronger base（CH₃）₃CONa.However,with another strong base NaOH,the yield of the ester is only 40%.On the other hand,with weak base NaOAc or（n-C₄H₉）₃N,phenyl bromide cannot be carbonylated.The results of carbonylation of the six substituted phenyl bromides suggest that the activities of o,m,p-BrC₆H₄CH₃ are similar to phenyl bromide, while the activities of o,m,p-BrC₆H₄Cl are higher with the high yields（≥93%） of the corresponding chloro-esters.In addition,the relative position of bromine and chlorine or methyl on phenyl ring has little effect on the activity of the carbonylation.     

One-pot hydrothermal synthesis of willow branch-shaped MoS2/CdS heterojunctions for photocatalytic H2 production under visible light irradiation

Willow branch-shaped MoS₂/CdS heterojunctions are successfully synthesized for the first time by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and photoelectrochemical and photoluminescence spectroscopy tests. The photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activities of the samples were evaluated under visible light irradiation. The resulting MoS₂/CdS heterojunctions exhibit a much improved photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity than that obtained with CdS and MoS₂. In particular, the optimized MC-5 (5 at.% MoS₂/CdS) photocatalyst achieved the highest hydrogen production rate of 250.8 μmol h^-1, which is 28 times higher than that of pristine CdS. The apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) at 420 nm was 3.66%. Further detailed characterizations revealed that the enhanced photocatalytic activity of the MoS₂/CdS heterojunctions could be attributed to the efficient transfer and separation of photogenerated charge carriers resulting from the core-shell structure and the close contact between MoS₂ nanosheets and CdS single-crystal nanorods, as well as to increased visible light absorption. A tentative mechanism for photocatalytic H₂ evolution by MoS₂/CdS heterojunctions was proposed. This work will open up new opportunities for developing more efficient photocatalysts for water splitting.     

Photocatalytic splitting of water under visible-light irradiation over the NiOx-loaded Sm2InTaO7 with 4f-d-d configuration

A new visible-light-response photocatalyst Sm₂InTaO₇ with 4f-d¹⁰-d⁰ configuration crystallized in a cubic system with the space group Fd3m was synthesized by a solid-state reaction method. NiOx-loaded Sm₂InTaO₇ showed high photocatalytic activities for H₂ evolution from pure water under visible light irradiation (λ>400 nm). Changes in the photocatalytic activity with the calcination temperature of Sm₂InTaO₇ and the amount of NiOx loaded indicated that the combination of highly crystallized Sm₂InTaO₇ and a high dispersion of NiOx particles led to high photocatalytic activity. The high photocatalytic performance of NiOx-loaded Sm₂InTaO₇ supported the existing view that the photocatalytic activity correlated with the lattice distortion. Density functional theory calculation indicated that strong dispersion from the hybridized In 5s 5p orbitals at the bottom of the conduction band was responsible for the high activity of photocatalyst Sm₂InTaO₇.     

Photophysical properties and photocatalytic activities of bismuth molybdates under visible light irradiation

Aurivillius structure Bi(2)MoO(6) (BG: 2.70 eV) that is a low-temperature phase showed an intense absorption band in the visible light region and photocatalytic activity for O(2) evolution from an aqueous silver nitrate solution under visible light irradiation, among various bismuth molybdates (Bi(2)MoO(6), Bi(2)Mo(2)O(9), and Bi(2)Mo(3)O(12)) synthesized by solid-state and reflux reactions. Bi(2)Mo(3)O(12) (BG: 2.88 eV) also showed photocatalytic activity for O(2) evolution under full-arc irradiation of a Xe lamp (lambda > 300 nm). The photocatalytic activity of the Aurivillius structure Bi(2)MoO(6) prepared by the reflux method was dependent on the annealing temperature after the preparation. The crystallinity was the important factor for the activity. Calculation by the density functional method indicated that the conduction band of Aurivillius structure Bi(2)MoO(6) was made up of Mo 4d orbitals. It turned out that the visible-light absorption of this photocatalyst was due to the transition from the valence band consisting of O 2p orbitals to the conduction band. The corner-sharing structure of the MoO(6) octahedra contributed to the visible light response and the photocatalytic performance because excitation energy and/or photogenerated electron and hole pairs began to migrate easily in the Aurivillius structure.     

可见光照射下温敏锌酞菁共聚物光催化氧化对氯苯酚

将含有不饱和双键的四马来酰胺基锌酞菁（ZnMPc）与N-异丙基丙烯酰胺（NIPA）共聚,制备得到一种新型温敏锌酞菁共聚物光催化剂：P（NIPA—co—ZnMPc）,采用差示扫描量热法测得其低临界溶解温度（LCST）为33．5℃．在可见光照射下利用氧气作为氧化剂,P（NIPA—co-ZnMPc）~g有效地催化氧化对氯苯酚（4-CP）,与小分子ZnMPc相比,P（NIPA-co-ZnMPc）具有更高的光催化活性．两者在水溶液中的紫外．可见光谱图显示,共聚后大分子链的阻隔作用能有效地抑制酞菁分子的二聚,从而大大提高了其催化活性．温度对其光催化活性的实验结果显示,P（NIPA-co-ZnMPc）在其LCST附近具有最高的催化效率,说明催化剂的聚集态结构对其光催化活性产生直接影响,通过测定其在不同温度下的流体力学半径,可推测在其LCST附近发生了分子间的疏水聚集,会对4-CP起富集作用,从而加快了光催化反应速率．该光催化剂可通过均相催化异相分离实现循环利用,实验表明该催化剂具有较高的稳定性．     

Photocatalytic oxidation of 4-chlorophenol using thermosensitive zinc phthalocyanine copolymer under visible light irradiation

A novel thermosensitive photocatalyst,P(NIPA-co-ZnMPc),has been prepared using zinc tetra(N-carbonylacrylic)aminophthalocya-nine(ZnMPc) to copolymerize with N-isopropylacrylamide(NIPA).The lower critical solution temperature(LCST) of P(NIPA-co-ZnMPc) measured by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) was 33.5 °C.P(NIPA-co-ZnMPc) effectively catalyzes the oxidation of 4-chlorophenols(4-CP) using oxygen as oxidant under the visible light irradiation,and it has higher photocatalytic activity than ZnMPc under t...     

Photocatalytic degradation of pathogenic bacteria with AgI/TiO2 under visible light irradiation

The photocatalytic disinfection of pathogenic bacteria in water was investigated systematically with AgI/TiO2 under visible light (lambda > 420 nm) irradiation. The catalyst was found to be highly effective in killing Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The adsorbed *OH and hVB+ on the surface of the catalyst were proposed to be the main active oxygen species by study of electron spin resonance and the effect of radical scavengers. The process of destruction of the cell wall and the cell membrane was verified by TEM, potassium ion leakage, lipid peroxidation, and FT-IR measurements. Some products from photocatalytic degradation of bacteria such as aldehydes, ketones, and carboxylic acids were identified by FT-IR spectroscopy. These results suggested that the photocatalytic degradation of the cell structure caused the cell death. The electrostatic force interaction of the bacteria-catalyst significantly affected the efficiency of disinfection on the basis of the E. coli inactivation under different conditions.     

Photocatalytic mechanisms of modified titania under visible light

Heterogeneous photocatalysis with titania under visible light has increasingly been a focus for research. Metal or non-metal doping, surface sensitization, semiconductor coupling, precious metal deposition and increasing crystal defects have been used to enhance the photocatalytic activity of titania under visible light. Based on the research results of different modification methods in recent years, some mechanisms from the excitation, bulk diffusion and surface transfer of photoinduced charge carriers, such as band gap modification, changing the excitation path, promoting the separation of photogenerated charge carrier, improving the surface adsorption and reaction, and synergistic effects, for photocatalysis under visible light are discussed and the development trend in this field is predicted.     

A Novel Sr2CuInO3S p-type semiconductor photocatalyst for hydrogen production under visible light irradiation

A novel Sr2CuInO3 S oxysulfide p-type semiconductor photocatalyst has been prepared by solid state reaction method and it exhibits intriguing visible light absorption properties with a bandgap of 2.3 eV. The p-type semiconductor character of the synthesized Sr2CuInO3 S was confirmed by Hall efficient measurement and Mott-Schottky plot analysis. First-principles density functional theory calculations(DFT) and electrochemical measurements were performed to elucidate the electronic structure and the energy band locations. It was found that the as-synthesized Sr2CuInO3 S photocatalyst has appreciate conduction and valence band positions for hydrogen and oxygen evolution, respectively. Photocatalytic hydrogen production experiments under a visible light irradiation(λ420 nm) were carried out by loading different metal and metal-like cocatalysts on Sr2CuInO3 S and Rh was found to be the best one among the tested ones.     

CuAl2O4 powder synthesis by sol-gel method and its photodegradation property under visible light irradiation

Nanocrystalline spinel CuAl₂O₄ powders were prepared by sol-gel method from nitrate Cu(NO₃)₂·3H₂O, Al(NO₃)₃·9H₂O and complex C₆H₈O₇·H₂O. Sintering was carried out at 400, 500, 600, 700, 800°C respectively for 2 h in air. The XRD patterns started to appear CuAl₂O₄ peaks after sintering of 500°C and consist of only CuAl₂O₄ peaks as spinel crystal after sintering of 700°C. The powders were analyzed by TEM and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrum to be round, about 10–30 nm in size and Eg=1.77 eV. Photodegradation property of nanocrystalline CuAl₂O₄ powders was investigated by using methyl orange as model pollutant and mercury lamp (λ>400 nm) as energy source. The results indicated that CuAl₂O₄ powders sintered at 700°C had the excellent visible photocatalytic property. Under the irradiation of visible light, methyl orange could be degraded 97% in 120 min.     

MoO3改性的TiO2在可见光下催化降解亚甲基蓝

采用浸渍法制备了MoO₃/P25催化剂（MoO₃/P25（x）,x为MoO₃与P25质量比）,用X射线衍射、紫外-可见漫反射光谱、傅里叶变换红外光谱及拉曼光谱等手段对样品进行了表征,并用催化降解亚甲基蓝考察了催化剂在可见光区的催化活性。结果表明,MoO₃在P25表面最大单层负载量对应的MoO₃与P25质量比在0.1左右。单层分散的氧化钼物种与P25之间有较强的相互作用,降低了P25禁带宽度,提高了催化剂对可见光的吸收。当MoO₃与P25质量比大于0.1时,会生成晶相MoO₃,催化剂对可见光的吸收反而随MoO₃担载量增加而降低。催化剂禁带宽度不是决定其可见光下催化降解亚甲基蓝活性的唯一因素。具有适宜禁带宽度和一定晶相MoO₃含量的MoO₃/P25（0.25）表现出最佳活性。     

Aerobic oxidation under visible light irradiation of a fluorescent lamp with a combination of carbon tetrabromide and triphenyl phosphine

A combination of CBr₄–Ph₃P, a non-metal method, enables us to carry out aerobic photo-oxidation of alcohols and aromatic methyl groups to the corresponding carboxylic acids under irradiation of vis from a general-purpose fluorescent lamp. Aliphatic primary- and secondary alcohols, benzyl alcohols, and methyl groups at the aromatic nucleus generally afforded the carboxylic acids directly in good to high yield.