Given the widespread use of TiO, its release into aquatic systems and complexation with dissolved organic matter (DOM) are highly possible, making it important to understand how such interactions affect photocatalytic activity under visible light. Here, we show that humic acid/TiO complexes (HA/TiO) exhibit photoactivity (without significant electron-hole activation) under visible light through ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT). The observed visible-light activities for pollutant removal and bacterial inactivation are primarily linked to the generation of HO the conduction band.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLoading a photocatalytic TiO to organic carriers has been desired for volumetric TiO incorporation, facile retrieval, and sustainable utilization. Traditionally, suspended TiO nanoparticles or its thin film on two-dimensional substrate are popularly fabricated for pollutants decomposition without carriers; due to poor thermomechanical properties of the organic carriers. Herein, a combination of the chitin nanofiber carrier and atomic layer deposition proves relevance for formation of anatase TiO thin layer so that photocatalytic decomposition in three-dimensional surface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe engineering of oxygen vacancies in CeO nanoparticles (NPs) allows the specific fine-tuning of their oxidation power, and this can be used to rationally control their activity and selectivity in the photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) of aromatic pollutants. In the current study, a facile strategy for generating exceptionally stable oxygen vacancies in CeO NPs through simple acid (CeO-A) or base (CeO-B) treatment was developed. The selective (or mild) PCO activities of CeO-A and CeO-B in the degradation of a variety of aromatic substrates in water were successfully demonstrated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this article, we demonstrate that TiO@carbon core/shell (TiO@C) nanocomposite photocatalysts prepared by carbonizing a single molecular layer of aromatic compounds adsorbed on the surface of TiO nanoparticles selectively enhance the generation of hydrogen peroxide (HO). Atomically thin carbon shells have been formed directly on the surface of TiO nanoparticles through pyrolytic decarboxylation of the adsorbed aromatic compounds, benzoic acid (BA), and 1-naphthoic acid (NA), which yields two types of TiO@C nanocomposites, TiO@C(BA) and TiO@C(NA). Raman spectroscopy shows that the as-obtained nanocomposites have similar degrees of graphitization (D/G band ratio), regardless of the type of aromatic precursors, but TiO@C(NA) contains more oxygenic species than TiO@C(BA) (D*/G band ratio).
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