Magnetic Metal Oxide-Based Photocatalysts with Integrated Silver for Water Treatment.

In this review, the most recent advances in the field of magnetic composite photocatalysts with integrated plasmonic silver (Ag) is presented, with an overview of their synthesis techniques, properties and photocatalytic pollutant removal applications. Magnetic attributes combined with plasmonic properties in these composites result in enhancements for light absorption, charge-pair generation-separation-transfer and photocatalytic efficiency with the additional advantage of their facile magnetic separation from water solutions after treatment, neutralizing the issue of silver's inherent toxicity. A detailed overview of the currently utilized synthesis methods and techniques for the preparation of magnetic silver-integrated composites is presented.

Surfactant Effects on the Synthesis of Redox Bifunctional VO Photocatalysts.

Novel VO bifunctional photocatalysts were prepared following a wet chemical process with the addition of anionic or non-ionic surfactants into the precursor solution and further heating under reflux. Detailed characterization and investigation of the relevant light-matter interactions proved that surfactants addition had a strong impact on the morphology, while also affecting the crystallinity, the optoelectronic properties, and the surface chemistry of the novel photocatalysts. The most efficient photocatalyst (T80) was based on tween 80, a surface-active agent employed for the first time in the synthesis of vanadium oxide materials.