Nanostructuring cadmium germanate catalysts for photocatalytic oxidation of benzene at ambient conditions

Study on micro-nanocrystalline structure control and performance of ZnWO4 photocatalysts

ZnWO₄ micro/nanocrystals with different sizes and well-developed crystals were synthesized by the molten salt method at low temperature.

Near-Infrared- and Visible-Light-Enhanced Metal-Free Catalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants over Carbon-Dot-Based Carbocatalysts Synthesized from Biomass

Cost-efficient nanoparticle carbocatalysts composed of fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) embedded in carbon matrix were synthesized via one-step acid-assisted hydrothermal treatment (200 °C) of glucose. These as-synthesized CD-based carbocatalysts have excellent photoluminescence (PL) properties over a broad range of wavelengths and the external visible or NIR irradiation on the carbocatalysts could produce electrons to form electron-hole (e(-)-h(+)) pairs on the surface of carbocatalysts. These restant electron-hole pairs will react with the adsorbed oxidants/reducers on the surface of the CD-based carbocatalysts to produce active radicals for reduction of 4-nitrophenol and degradation of dye molecules. Moreover, the local temperature increase over CD-based carbocatalyst under NIR irradiation can enhance the electron transfer rate between the organic molecules and CD-based carbocatalysts, thus obviously increase the catalytic activity of the CD-based carbocatalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol and the degradation of dye molecules. Such a type of CD-based carbocatalysts with excellent properties and highly efficient metal-free photocatalytic activities is an ideal candidate as photocatalysts for the reduction of organic pollutants under visible light and NIR radiation.

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence emission from cadmium germanate nanoparticles

This was the first report on the ECL of semiconductor nanocrystals involving three elements and dealt with amorphous nanomaterials.

Template-induced synthesis and superior antibacterial activity of hierarchical Ag/TiO2composites

Hierarchical Ag/TiO₂composites were successfully synthesizedviahydrated magnesium carbonate hydroxide template-induced route, which exhibit superior and long-term antimicrobial activity.

A theoretical study of water adsorption and decomposition on low-index spinel ZnGa2O4 surfaces: correlation between surface structure and photocatalytic properties

Water adsorption and decomposition on stoichiometrically perfect and oxygen vacancy containing ZnGa2O4 (100), (110), and (111) surfaces were investigated through periodic density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The results demonstrated that water adsorption and decomposition are surface-structure-sensitive processes. On a stoichiometrically perfect surface, the most stable molecular adsorption that could take place involved the generation of hydrogen bonds. For dissociative adsorption, the adsorption energy of the (111) surface was more than 4 times the energies of the other two surfaces, indicating it to be the best surface for water decomposition. A detailed comparison of these three surfaces showed that the primary reason for this observation was the special electronic state of the (111) surface. When water dissociated on the (111) surface, the special Ga3c-4s and 4p hybridization states at the Fermi level had an obvious downshift to the lower energies. This large energy gain greatly promoted the dissociation of water. Because the generation of O(3c) vacancy defects on the (100) and (110) surfaces could increase the stability of the dissociative adsorption states with few changes to the energy barrier, this type of defect would make the decomposition of water molecules more favorable. However, for the (111) surface, the generation of vacancy defects could decrease the stability of the dissociative adsorption states and significantly increase their energy barriers. Therefore, the decomposition of water molecules on the oxygen vacancy defective (111) surface would be less favorable than the perfect (111) surface. These findings on the decomposition of H2O on the ZnGa2O4 surfaces can be used toward the synthesis of water-splitting catalysts.

Reduced workfunction intermetallic seed layers allow growth of porous n-GaN and low resistivity, ohmic electron transport

Porous GaN crystals have been successfully grown and electrically contacted simultaneously on Pt- and Au-coated silicon substrates as porous crystals and as porous layers. By the direct reaction of metallic Ga and NH(3) gas through chemical vapor deposition, intermetallic metal-Ga alloys form at the GaN-metal interface, allowing vapor-solid-solid seeding and subsequent growth of porous GaN. Current-voltage and capacitance-voltage measurements confirm that the intermetallic seed layers prevent interface oxidation and give a high-quality reduced workfunction contact that allows exceptionally low contact resistivities. Additionally, the simultaneous formation of a lower workfunction intermetallic permits ohmic electron transport to n-type GaN grown using high workfunction metals that best catalyze the formation of porous GaN layers and may be employed to seed and ohmically contact a range of III-N compounds and alloys for broadband absorption and emission.

A survey of photocatalytic materials for environmental remediation

Heterogeneous photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation process which has been the subject of a huge amount of studies related to air cleaning and water purification. All these processes have been carried out mainly by using TiO(2)-based materials as the photocatalysts and ca. 75% of the articles published in the last 3 years is related to them. This review illustrates the efforts in the search of alternative photocatalysts that are not based on TiO(2), with some exceptions concerning particularly innovative modifications as nanoassembled TiO(2) or TiO(2) composites with active carbon, graphite and fullerene. Papers reporting preparation, characterization and testing of binary, ternary and quaternary compounds, have been reviewed. Despite many of these photocatalysts being effective for the photodecomposition of many pollutants, most of them do not allow a complete mineralization of the starting compounds, differently from TiO(2).

Visible light-sensitive ZnGe oxynitride catalysts for the decomposition of organic pollutants in water

A ZnGe oxynitride semiconductor was prepared by a solid-state reaction using GeO(2) and ZnO under NH(3) flow. The catalyst was used as a visible-light photocatalyst for the decomposition of organic compounds in polluted water. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized ZnGe oxynitride photocatalysts were characterized by several techniques, and aqueous photocatalytic activity was evaluated via the decomposition of model organic compounds including Rhodamine B, Methyl orange, Methylene blue, 4-chlorophenol, and salicylic acid. The results demonstrate that ZnGe oxynitride can photocatalytically oxidize organic pollutants in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation, suffering no obvious catalyst deactivation during reaction testing. The possible active species in the photocatalytic process are also discussed.