Bicrystalline α-Fe2O3 nanoblades (NBs) synthesized by thermal oxidation of iron foils were reduced in vacuum, to study the effect of reduction treatment on microstructural changes and photocatalytic properties. After the vacuum reduction, most bicrystalline α-Fe2O3 NBs transform into single-layered NBs, which contain more defects such as oxygen vacancies, perfect dislocations and dense pores. B...

A photocatalyst is defined as a functional composite material with three components: photo-harvester (e.g. semiconductor), reduction cocatalyst (e.g. for hydrogen evolution) and oxidation cocatalyst (e.g. for oxidation evolution from water). Loading cocatalysts on semiconductors is proved to be an effective approach to promote the charge separation and transfer, suppress the charge recombinatio...

Photocatalytic activity in the reduction of CO(2) with H(2)O to CH(4) was significantly enhanced by simply adding MgO to TiO(2) loaded with Pt. A positive correlation between CH(4) formation activity and basicity was observed. The interface between TiO(2), Pt and MgO in the trinary nanocomposite played a crucial role in CO(2) photocatalytic reduction.

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...

In this study, the degradation of bisphenol A in aqueous suspension by interaction of photocatalytic oxidation and ferrate(VI) oxidation was investigated under different conditions. The results indicate that the formation of Fe(V) and Fe(IV) is in the photocatalytic reduction of Fe(VI) by electron (ecb-) on the surface of TiO2. The oxidation efficiency of the photocatalytic oxidation in the pre...

Photocatalytic systems for the reduction of aqueous protons are strongly pH-dependent, but the origin of this dependency is still not fully understood. We have studied the effect of different degrees of acidity on the electron transfer dynamics and catalysis taking place in a homogeneous photocatalytic system composed of a phosphonated ruthenium tris(bipyridine) dye (RuP) and a nickel bis(dipho...

Photocatalytic systems for the reduction of aqueous protons are strongly pH-dependent, but the origin of this dependency is still not fully understood. We have studied the effect of different degrees of acidity on the electron transfer dynamics and catalysis taking place in a homogeneous photocatalytic system composed of a phosphonated ruthenium tris(bipyridine) dye (RuP) and a nickel bis(dipho...

Herein, MoS2/TiO2 nanobelts heterojunction have been successfully synthesized by in situ growth method for photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI). TiO2 nanobelts (NBs) with rough surface were prepared firstly by acidic treatment process, which is beneficial for deposition and growth of MoS2 to form heterojunctions. As a result of special energy level offset and nanostructure, MoS2/TiO2 NBs composit...

Although reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-based photocatalyst composites have been intensively developed during the past few years, the influence of reduction extent of rGO on the photocatalytic performance of the rGO-based composite has virtually not been investigated due to some technical limitations, such as the poor water dispersibility of rGO and low reduction selectivity of the hydrothermal m...

Finding active sites for photocatalytic reduction and oxidation allows the mechanistic understanding of a given reaction, ensuring the rational design and fabrication of an efficient photocatalyst. Herein, using well-shaped Cu2WS4 decahedra as model photocatalysts, we demonstrated that photoinduced oxidative etching could be considered as an indication of the photooxidation reaction sites of ch...