Salen–metal complexes (SalenM) were successfully intercalated into ZnCr layered double hydroxides (LDHs) through coprecipitation method, then a series of novel organic–inorganic hybrid materials were obtained. The structure and properties of the materials were thoroughly characterized by inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier t...

The accelerated photocatalytic degradation of industrial wastewater using titanium dioxide as catalyst activated by ultrasound has been investigated in photocatalytic reactor using ultraviolet light source of 125 W. The effect of number of parameters, such as pH, oxidant concentration and catalyst dose has been examined to study the degradation rates in sonolytic, photocatalytic and sonophotoca...

Semiconducting zinc sulphide (ZnS) has been demonstrated that is an excellent candidate for substituting the possible toxic materials as CdS as n-type material on optoelectronic devices, and photocatalytic materials. The Chemical Bath Deposition technique (CBD) is very simple: it requires temperatures below 100°C, a reactor that can be a beaker and the reaction can be carried out at atmospheric...

Titania (TiO2) induced photocatalysis has been widely investigated and applied as a disinfection strategy in many industrial and clinical applications. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), including hydroxyl radicals (•OH), superoxide radicals ( − •2 O ) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), generated in the photocatalytic reaction process are considered to be the active components prompting the bactericidal...

The development of heterostructured materials for efficient solar energy conversion and energy storage devices are essential for practical applications. In this study, a simple and relatively inexpensive method was used to improve the visible light-driven photocatalytic activity and electrochemical supercapacitor behavior of the graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) by elemental red phosphorus (RPh...

In this study, an ultrasound-aided hydrothermal-impregnation method was used to synthesize three-dimensional (3D) urchin-like CdS-TiO2 nanostructures (UCTs) with variable CdS content. The photocatalytic efficiencies (for degrading limonene and toluene vapor) of UCTs synthesized using the ultrasound-aided process were greater than those of UCTs fabricated without ultrasound treatment. In additio...

Formation of solid solutions is a good strategy to acquire materials with special properties and bring forth new type of applications or enhance the performance of currently existing devices. In this study, hollow ZnxCd1-xS nanospheres with different molar ratios were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal process. The products were fully characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron mic...

A novel ambient pressure microwave assisted technique is developed in which silver and indium-modified ZnS is synthesized. The as-prepared ZnS is characterized by x-ray diffraction, UV-vis spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and luminescence spectroscopy. This procedure produced crystalline materials with particle sizes below 10 nm. The synthesis technique leads to defects in the cry...

A facile method was developed to enhance the visible light photocatalytic activity of bismuth oxide formate (BiOCOOH) nanosheets via Br-doping. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photolum...

Understanding the photoexcitation processes in semiconductors is critical for the design of advanced photocatalytic materials. Nevertheless, traditional viewpoints focus on photogenerated free charge carriers, which are somehow invalid once the many-body effects are taken into account, especially for polymeric photocatalysts. Here we systematically investigate the photoexcitation processes invo...