Light-driven water oxidation is an essential step for conversion of sunlight into storable chemical fuels. Fujishima and Honda reported the first example of photoelectrochemical water oxidation in 1972. In their system, TiO2 was irradiated with ultraviolet light, producing oxygen at the anode and hydrogen at a platinum cathode. Inspired by this system, more recent work has focused on functional...

A hybrid for the visible-light-driven photocatalytic reduction of CO2 using methanol as a reducing agent was developed by combining two different types of photocatalysts: a Ru(II) dinuclear complex (RuBLRu') used for CO2 reduction is adsorbed onto Ag-loaded TaON (Ag/TaON) for methanol oxidation. Isotope experiments clearly showed that this hybrid photocatalyst mainly produced HCOOH (TN = 41 for...

Mesporous anatase-phase TiO(2) hollow spheres with high photocatalytic activity were prepared by hydrothermal treatment and self-transformation of amorphous TiO(2) solid spheres in an NH(4)F aqueous solution. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N(2) adsorption-desorption isotherms and UV-v...

The present study reports, the synthesis of ZnO-bentonite nanocomposite by the incorporation of ZnO with bentonite clay. The nanocomposite was characterised by XRD and SEM. ZnO-bentonite was effectively used for removal of Methylene Blue (MB). Removal of MB takes place by photocatalytic degradation and adsorption. Photocatalytic degradation of MB occurs by advanced oxidation process. The factor...

In this work, photoelectrocatalytic degradation of wastewater containing methylene blue (MB) was investigated using a novel photoelectrochemical reactor – a three dimensional electrodes-photocatalytic oxidation reactor in which nano TiO2 was used as photocatalyst. The experimental results are assessed in the terms of decolorization and Chemical Oxygen Demanded (COD) removal efficiencies. The ex...

In this study, photocatalytic degradation of phenol by titanium dioxide (TiO2) in aqueous solution was evaluated. The UV energy of solar light was utilized by compound parabolic collectors (CPCs) technology. The effect of irradiation time, initial pH, and dosage of TiO2 were investigated. Aromatic intermediates (catechol, benzoquinone, and hydroquinone) were quantified during the reaction to st...

Bismuth molybdate thin films were deposited by reactive magnetron co-sputtering from two metallic targets in an argon/oxygen atmosphere, reportedly for the first time. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis showed that the ratio of bismuth to molybdenum in the coatings can be effectively controlled by varying the power applied to each target. Deposited coatings were annealed in air...

The sole effect of surface/bulk defects of TiO2 samples on their photocatalytic activity was investigated. Nano-sized anatase and rutile TiO2 were prepared by hydrothermal method and their surface/bulk defects were adjusted simply by calcination at different temperatures, i.e. 400-700 °C. High temperature calcinations induced the growth of crystalline sizes and a decrease in the surface areas, ...