Semiconductor photocatalysts have attracted increased attention due to their great potential for solving energy and environmental problems. The formation of Z-scheme photocatalytic systems that mimic natural photosynthesis is a promising strategy to improve photocatalytic activity that is superior to single component photocatalysts. The connection between photosystem I (PS I) and photosystem II...

In the present study, comparison of  photocatalytic activity of nanostructures semiconductor zinc oxide (ZnO) was prepared using the different methods on the degradation of organic dye such as methylene blue that was investigated. Previous studies have proved that such semiconductors can degrade most kinds of persistent organic pollutants, such as detergents, dyes, pesticides and volatile organ...

It is known that TiO2 exhibits good photocatalytic properties which could be used in various commercial applications such as water and air purification or photo-induced biodegradation of microbes. TiO2 occurs in nature in the form of three crystal polymorphs: anatase, brookite and rutile. For photocatalytic applications only anatase and rutile are of interest, however anatase shows greater phot...

A novel heterostructure was first synthesized by directly depositing photocatalytic inert ZnO2 onto facet {201} of brookite nanorods. The heterostructure thus obtained was found to show a superior photocatalytic activity under UV-light irradiation. The exceptional photocatalytic performance was due to the band-structure match between ZnO2 and brookite as well as synergic charge accumulation by ...

An effective way for promoting photocatalytic activity of a semiconductor is deposition of noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) onto it. In this paper, we deposited Ag and Pd onto ZnO NPs to form ZnO/Ag and ZnO/Pd hybrid nanostructures. It was found that both Ag and Pd nanocomponents can greatly enhance the photocatalytic activity and phototoxicity of ZnO toward human skin cells. Using electron spin...

Our research was focused on the evaluation of the photocatalytic and antimicrobial properties, as well as biocompatibility of cotton fabrics coated with fresh and reused dispersions of nanoscaled TiO₂-1% Fe-N particles prepared by the hydrothermal method and post-annealed at 400 °C. The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectro...

A ternary nanostructured photocatalyst consisting of ZnO/TiO2/Au was designed to achieve an enhanced solar absorption due to the coupling of surface enhanced plasmonic absorption of metal and semiconductor excitons. TiO2 coated ZnO rods with an aspect ratio of 8-12 were decorated with citrate capped gold nanoparticles for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in simulated waste water...

The ability to control the properties of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) attached to solid surfaces and the rare photocatalytic properties of titanium dioxide provide a rationale for the study of systems comprising both. Such systems can be realized in the form of SAMs grown on TiO(2) or, in a complementary manner, as TiO(2) grown on SAMs. Accordingly, the current status of knowledge regarding...

To investigate the effect of Gd doping on photocatalytic activity of BiFeO3 (BFO), Gd-doped BFO nanoparticles containing different Gd doping contents (Bi(1-x)GdxFeO3, x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05) were synthesized using a facile sol-gel route. The obtained products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectra,...

The facet-engineered surface and interface design for photocatalytic materials has been proven as a versatile approach to enhance their photocatalytic performance. This review article encompasses some recent advances in the facet engineering that has been performed to control the surface of mono-component semiconductor systems and to design the surface and interface structures of multi-componen...