Semiconductor Nanomaterials in Photocatalytic Bipyridine Reduction and H2 Generation By Li Yu Semiconductor nanoparticles have been used in the study of proton coupled electron transfer from CdS quantum dots (QDs) to N-heptyl-4,4’-bipyridinium (bPYD) and photocatalytic H2 generation with Pt tipped CdS nanorods (NRs) under alkaline solutions. For the QDs/bPYD system, transient absorption (TA) sp...

Photocatalysis is attracting enormous interest driven by the great promise of addressing current energy and environmental crises by converting solar light directly into chemical energy. However, efficiently harvesting solar energy for photocatalysis remains a pressing challenge, and the charge kinetics and mechanism of the photocatalytic process is far from being well understood. Here we report...

This study aimed to prepare titania (TiO₂) nanotube (TNT) arrays grown on un-activated carbon fibers (UCFs), with the application of different TiO₂ loadings based on the coating-hydrothermal process, and to evaluate their photocatalytic activity for the degradation of sub-ppm levels of aromatic pollutants (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and o-xylene (BTEX)) using a plug-flow photocatalytic re...

A novel TiO2-wrapped nanofiber composite catalyst, which possessed a unique porous structure and mixed crystalline phase, was prepared by the combination of superficial sol–gel and post-calcination processes. By means of the superficial sol–gel process, TiO2 layers were deposited on the surface of each nanofiber-like cellulose fiber, and then the TiO2wrapped nanofiber composite catalysts were c...

The problem of textile dye pollution has been addressed by various methods, mainly physical, chemical, biological, and acoustical. These methods mainly separate and/or remove the dye present in water. Recently, advanced oxidation processes (AOP) have been focused for removal of dye from waste water due to their advantages such as ecofriendly, economic and capable to degrade many dyes or organic...

BACKGROUND, AIM AND SCOPE Photocatalytic oxidation using UV irradiation of TiO(2) has been studied extensively and has many potential industrial applications, including the degradation of recalcitrant contaminants in water and wastewater treatment. A limiting factor in the oxidation process is the recombination of conduction band electrons (e(-)(cb)) with electron holes (h(vb)(+)) on the irradi...

This study presents an experimental overview for the development of photocatalytic materials based on geopolymer binders as catalyst support matrices. Particularly, geopolymer matrices obtained from different solid precursors (fly ash and metakaolin), composite systems (siloxane-hybrid, foamed hybrid), and curing temperatures (room temperature and 60 °C) were investigated for the same photocata...

In this study titanium dioxide nanotube (TNT) arrays were prepared by an anodic oxidation process with post-calcination. The morphology and structure of the TNT films were studied by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Photocatalytic activity of the TNT films was evaluated in terms of the degradation of 2,3-di...

Graphite and graphene oxides have been studied amply in the last decade, due to their diverse properties and possible applications. Recently, their functionality as photocatalytic materials in water splitting was reported. Research in these materials is increasing due to their band gap values around 1.8-4 eV, and therefore, these are comparable with other photocatalysts currently used in hetero...