Boosted Photocatalytic Activities of AgCrO through Eu-Doping Process.

AgCrO is a representative member of a family of Ag-containing semiconductors with highly efficient visible-light-driven responsive photocatalysts. The doping process with Eu is known to effectively tune their properties, thus opening opportunities for investigations and application. Here, we report the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity and stability of AgCrO by introducing Eucations.

Chemical contamination in coastal areas alters shape, resistance and composition of carnivorous gastropod shells.

Morphological, structural and compositional alterations in shells of molluscs have been proposed as putative biomarkers of chemical contamination in coastal zones. Despite this, few studies were carried out using top predator gastropods which tend to be more susceptible to contamination exposure. Thus, the present study assessed disturbances on shells of Stramonita brasiliensis considering compression resistance and organic and mineralogical matrix composition, related to morphometric alterations.

Unconventional Disorder by Femtosecond Laser Irradiation in FeO.

This paper demonstrates that femtosecond laser-irradiated FeO materials containing a mixture of α-FeO and ε-FeO phases showed significant improvement in their photoelectrochemical performance and magnetic and optical properties. The absence of Raman-active vibrational modes in the irradiated samples and the changes in charge carrier emission observed in the photocurrent density results indicate an increase in the density of defects and distortions in the crystalline lattice when compared to the nonirradiated ones. The magnetization measurements at room temperature for the nonirradiated samples revealed a weak ferromagnetic behavior, whereas the irradiated samples exhibited a strong one.

Structure, Photoluminescence Emissions, and Photocatalytic Activity of AgSeO: A Joint Experimental and Theoretical Investigation.

In this paper, we report the synthesis of silver selenite (AgSeO) by different methods [sonochemistry, ultrasonic probe, coprecipitation, and microwave-assisted hydrothermal methods]. These microcrystals presented a structural long-range order as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld refinements and a structural short-range order as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopies. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provided information about the surface of the samples indicating that they were pure.