In this work, the photocatalytic reduction of nitrate in water was examined using zinc oxide loaded with platinum nanoparticles and formic acid as a hole scavenger (electron donor). The data obtained in the structural characterization and in the nitrate photoreduction experiments showed that 1wt% Pt/ZnO photocatalyst had the highest photocatalytic activity and selectivity toward nitrogen. Selec...

Zr/N co-doped TiO2 nanostructures were successfully synthesized using nanotubular titanic acid (NTA) as precursors by a facile wet chemical route and subsequent calcination. These Zr/N-doped TiO2 nanostructures made by NTA precursors show significantly enhanced visible light absorption and much higher photocatalytic performance than the Zr/N-doped P25 TiO2 nanoparticles. Impacts of Zr/N co-dopi...

We used hybrid density-functional calculations to clarify the effect of substituting chromium for titanium (Cr(Ti)) on photocatalytic activities of Cr-doped SrTiO(3). A singly negative Cr(Ti)⁻, which is relevant to a lower oxidation state of Cr, is advantageous for the visible light absorption without forming electron trapping centers, while other charge states are inactive for the photocatalyt...

Fullerene (C60)-enhanced Bi2TiO4F2 hierarchical microspheres were prepared by a facile solvothermal method. Compared to the pure Bi2TiO4F2 photocatalyst, the C60/Bi2TiO4F2 samples exhibit much stronger photocatalytic performance for degrading Rhodamine B (RhB) and Eosin Y (EY) under visible light irradiation. Such greatly enhanced photocatalytic activity may be ascribed to strong combination an...

The paper reports the preparation and photocatalytic activity of ZnO/SnO2 and SnO2 nanoparticles. These nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrothermal method. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Their grain sizes are about 50-100 nm. The photocatalytic activities of these materials were investigated for congo red removal from aqueou...

We report the synthesis of Ag-ZnO hybrid plasmonic nanostructures with enhanced photocatalytic activity by a facile wet-chemical method. The structural, optical, plasmonic and photocatalytic properties of the Ag-ZnO hybrid nanostructures were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL) an...

Following a series of recent studies that demonstrated enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activities of TiO2 by annealing in reducing atmospheres, a systematic investigation was conducted, in which TiO2 nanoparticles were annealed in various controlled atmospheres with the estimated oxygen partial pressure being varied from 10 1 to 10 25 atm and presence of other species (Ar, H2, N2, vacuum ...

A novel, miniaturized, high-efficiency photocatalytic cell, able to work in dynamic conditions, has been designed and validated in this study. Microfluidic channels were molded out of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) by means of standard soft lithography techniques, so as to work as photocatalytic cells, where the coupling of anatase titanium dioxide thin films and platinum electrodes, allows an ele...

In this research, ZnO nanowires doped with Mn2+ and Co2+ ions were synthesized through a facile and inexpensive hydrothermal approach, in which Mn2+ and Co2+ ions successfully substituted Zn2+ in the ZnO crystal lattice without changing the morphology and crystalline structure of ZnO. The atomic percentages of Mn and Co were 6.29% and 1.68%, respectively, in the doped ZnO nanowires. The photoca...

The effectiveness of photocatalytic processes is dictated largely by plasmonic materials with the capability to enhance light absorption as well as the energy conversion efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate how to improve the plasmonic photocatalytic properties of TiO2/Al nano-void arrays by overlapping the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) modes with the TiO2 band gap. The plasmonic TiO...