Characterisation of the photocatalyst Pilkington Activ™: a reference film photocatalyst?

Pilkington Glass Activ™ represents a possible suitable successor to P25 TiO₂, especially as a benchmark photocatalyst film for comparing other photocatalyst or PSH self-cleaning films. Activ™ is a glass product with a clear, colourless, effectively invisible, photocatalytic coating of titania that also exhibits PSH. Although not as active as a film of P25 TiO₂, Activ™ vastly superior mechanical stability, very reproducible activity and widespread commercial availability makes it highly attractive as a reference photocatalytic film. The photocatalytic and photo-induced superhydrophilitic (PSH) properties of Activ™ are studied in some detail and the results reported. Thus, the kinetics of stearic acid destruction (a 10⁴ electron process) are zero order over the stearic acid range 4–129 monolayers and exhibit formal quantum efficiencies (FQE) of 0.7×10⁻⁵ and 10.2×10⁻⁵ molecules per photon when irradiated with light of 365±20 and 254 nm, respectively; the latter appears also to be the quantum yield for Activ™ at 254 nm. The kinetics of stearic acid destruction exhibit Langmuir–Hinshelwood-like saturation type kinetics as a function of oxygen partial pressure, with no destruction occurring in the absence of oxygen and the rate of destruction appearing the same in air and oxygen atmospheres. Further kinetic work revealed a Langmuir adsorption type constant for oxygen of 0.45±0.16 kPa⁻¹ and an activation energy of 19±1 kJ mol⁻¹. A study of the PSH properties of Activ™ reveals a high water contact angle (67°) before ultra-bandgap irradiation reduced to 0° after prolonged irradiation. The kinetics of PSH are similar to those reported by others for sol–gel films using a low level of UV light. The kinetics of contact angle recovery in the dark appear monophasic and different to the biphasic kinetics reported recently by others for sol–gel films [J. Phys. Chem. B 107 (2003) 1028]. Overall, Activ™ appears a very suitable reference material for semiconductor film photocatalysis.     

Elasticity in nanocrystalline Nd2Fe14B+αFe magnetic composites

The dynamic Young modulus (E) of magnetic Nd₂Fe₁₄B+αFe nanocomposites is investigated with mechanical spectroscopy techniques (vibrating reed configuration, f≈1.5 kHz <10⁻⁶). Reduced values of E are obtained (88–152 GPa) as compared with that predicted by the rule of mixtures for the composite (164 GPa). Three contributions to this reduction are briefly discussed: a large volume fraction of the specimen with grain boundary like structure; internal pores, resulting from the high cooling rate during processing (10⁶ K/min) and magneto-mechanical effects. Even when porosity is identified as the principal cause of modulus reduction, magnetic effects are also detected.     

Temperature dependence of excitonic luminescence from nanocrystalline ZnO films

The properties of the excitonic luminescence for nanocrystalline ZnO thin films are investigated by using the dependence of excitonic photoluminescence (PL) spectra on temperature. The ZnO thin films are prepared by thermal oxidation of ZnS films prepared by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD) technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates that ZnO thin films have a polycrystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure with a preferred (0 0 2) orientation. A strong ultraviolet (UV) emission peak at 3.26 eV is observed, while the deep-level emission band is barely observable at room temperature. The strength of the exciton-longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon coupling is deduced from the temperature dependence of the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the fundamental excitonic peak, decrease in exciton-longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon coupling strength is due to the quantum confinement effect.     

Strong visible PL from the nc-Si thin film by Ni silicide mediated crystallization

We studied the growth of nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) thin film exhibiting a strong room temperature photoluminescence (PL) at 1.81–2.003 eV. The amorphous silicon was crystallized by Ni silicide mediated crystallization (Ni SMC) and then Secco-etched to exhibit the PL. The PL peak energy and intensity increase with increasing the metal density on the a-Si because of the reduction in the grain size down to 2 nm. The photoluminescence energy and peak intensity depend strongly on the Secco etch time because the grain size is reduced by etching the grain boundaries.     

Conversion of acids to benzimidazoles with transition metal/zeolites

Transition metal/Y zeolites were prepared using microwave solid state and aqueous solution ion exchange methods. The activity of these zeolites was investigated in a conversion of acids to benzimidazoles reaction between 4-methyl-1, 2-phenylenediamine and 3-nitrobenzoic acid. The yield of these reactions increased in order of CuY < Fe²⁺Y < NiY < CoY < NaY < CrY < MnY < ZnY for both methods. The solid state ion-exchanged zeolites showed higher activity in comparison to the aqueous solution exchange. Yields of products in the presence of the ZnY zeolite were of the order of 69–83%. It seems that the Lewis sites are better sites compared to the Bronsted sites for this reaction.     

Study on antimony oxide self-assembled inside HZSM-5

Sb/ZSM-5 was obtained by solid-state reaction with the mixture of Sb₂O₃ and zeolite HZSM-5 under a dry nitrogen flow at 773 K. Characterization of the treated zeolite was undertaken with XRD, ²⁷Al MAS NMR, BET, TGA and FT-IR. The results revealed that part of the antimony oxides migrated into the channels of zeolite, and decreased the Brönsted acid sites in Sb/ZSM-5 remarkably. The other part of antimony oxides together with the amorphous alumino-silicate in the products distributed on the external surface of zeolite ZSM-5 and modified it, while the framework of ZSM-5 in crystal phase was retained. The structure of occluded antimony oxide inside the channels of ZSM-5 was studied by XRD Rietveld method. The result showed that their structure can be described as a chain of non-perfect [Sb₅O₅(H₂O)₂]_n⁵ⁿ⁺, which is parallel to the straight channel of ZSM-5. There is about 0.6 [Sb₅O₅(H₂O)₂]⁵⁺ unit in every cell of the ZSM-5 on an average.     

β沸石的铝化

β沸石自1988年结构被确定以来受到普遍重视,由干结构上的特殊性,G沸石既具有较强酸性又具有明显的碱性［‘,‘］．但q佛石的高硅铝比使其在化学组成上对碱性的贡献甚微,如果能降低其硅铝比,则有可能获得具有较强碱性的佛石分子筛．直接合成的o佛石,硅铝比一般在10以上．     

高介电常数TiO2纳米晶的表面态研究

将钛酸四丁酯和硬脂酸在熔融状态下混合均匀后置于冷水浴中,使其凝固成凝胶,通过控制烧结过程中氧气的含量,成功地制备出粒度均匀、介电性能好的纳米晶TiO2.通过采用X射线光电子能谱和表面光电压谱对纳米晶TiO2表面状态的分析发现,材料表面存在大量的氧空位缺陷,暴露在粒子表面上的主要是一些金属Ti4+.纳米材料的这种表面状态对其极化性质具有重要的影响,使其在接近静态条件下的低频介电常数远大于常规材料的介电常数.     

沸石上萘的催化破环反应

沸石上萘的催化破环反应朱建华刘琳胡玉海曹洁明须沁华（南京大学化学化工学院化学系，南京２１００９３）关键词沸石催化剂，ＨＭＳ中孔分子筛，萘，多环芳烃，催化裂解，环境保护分类号Ｏ６４３／Ｘ５当前，治理大工业生产带来的环境污染已经成为全球关注的课题，也是...     

沸石中阳离子对氮/氧吸附性能影响的研究进展

基于制氧吸附剂在变压吸附空分制氧工业应用的重要性，从沸石分子筛的氮／氧吸附性能方面，介绍了低硅沸石LSX、钙沸石、锂沸石、锂银沸石等的研究进展。讨论了沸石分子筛骨架结构和其中阳离子的种类、位置、数量与其吸附特性的关系，探讨其在变压吸附空分制氧中的应用前景。