Biomass Pyrolysis-Derived Biochar: A Versatile Precursor for Graphene Synthesis.

Graphene, a two-dimensional carbon allotrope with a honeycomb structure, has emerged as a material of immense interest in diverse scientific and technical domains. It is mainly produced from graphite by mechanical, chemical and electrochemical exfoliation. As renewable energy and source utilization increase, including bioenergy from forest and woody residues, processed, among other methods, by pyrolysis treatment, it can be expected that biochar production will increase too.

A Perspective on Removal of Cyanotoxins from Water Through Advanced Oxidation Processes.

This perspective discusses the challenges associated with the removal of cyanotoxins from raw water sources for drinking water treatment and the emergence of sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) as an effective treatment technique. The advantage of SR-AOPs is that they can be activated using a variety of methods, including heat, UV radiation, and transition metal catalysts, allowing for greater flexibility in treatment design and optimization. In addition, the byproducts of SR-AOPs are less harmful than those generated by OH-AOPs, which reduces the risk of secondary contamination.

Visible-Light Activation of Persulfate or HO by FeO/TiO Immobilized on Glass Support for Photocatalytic Removal of Amoxicillin: Mechanism, Transformation Products, and Toxicity Assessment.

FeO/TiO nanocomposites were fabricated via a facile impregnation/calcination technique employing different amounts iron (III) nitrate onto commercial TiO (P25 Aeroxide). The as-prepared FeO/TiO nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (RS), scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDXS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis (BET), electron impedance spectroscopy (EIS), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). As a result, 5% () FeO/TiO achieved the highest photocatalytic activity in the slurry system and was successfully immobilized on glass support.

Effect of Functionalized Benzene Derivatives as Potential Hole Scavengers for BiVO and rGO-BiVO Photoelectrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

Sustainable hydrogen production is one of the main challenges today in the transition to a green and sustainable economy. Photocatalytic hydrogen production is one of the most promising technologies, amongst which BiVO-based processes are highly attractive due to their suitable band gap for solar-driven processes. However, the performance of BiVO alone in this role is often unsatisfactory.

Solar-Driven Photocatalytic Films: Synthesis Approaches, Factors Affecting Environmental Activity, and Characterization Features.

Solar-powered photocatalysis has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the 1990s, producing more than a thousand research papers per year over the past decade. In this review, immobilized photocatalysts operating under sunlight are highlighted. First, a literature review of solar-driven films is presented, along with some fundamental operational differences in relation to reactions involving suspended nanoparticles.

Enhanced photo-degradation of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP): Influence of matrix components, kinetic study and artificial neural network modelling.

This study investigates the degradation of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) by UV-C and UV-C/PMS-treatment processes. The degradation of NMP was less than 2% by UV-C photolysis. To enhance the degradation, PMS was used as a source of sulphate (SO) and hydroxyl (HO) radicals in the UV-C photolysis treatment system.

Combined Analytical Study on Chemical Transformations and Detoxification of Model Phenolic Pollutants during Various Advanced Oxidation Treatment Processes.

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been introduced to deal with different types of water pollution. They cause effective chemical destruction of pollutants, yet leading to a mixture of transformation by-products, rather than complete mineralization. Therefore, the aim of our study was to understand complex degradation processes induced by different AOPs from chemical and ecotoxicological point of view.

Optimization Method of the Solvothermal Parameters Using Box-Behnken Experimental Design-The Case Study of ZnO Structural and Catalytic Tailoring.

ZnO photocatalysts were synthesized via solvothermal method and a reduced experimental design (Box-Behnken) was applied to investigate the influence of four parameters (temperature, duration, composition of the reaction mixture) upon the photocatalytic activity and the crystal structure of ZnO. The four parameters were correlated with photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange and the ratio of two crystallographic facets ((002) and (100)) using a quadratic model. The quadratic model shows good fit for both responses.

Synergism in TiO photocatalytic ozonation for the removal of dichloroacetic acid and thiacloprid.

The synergistic effect of the photocatalytic ozonation process (PH-OZ) using the photocatalyst TiO is usually attributed to influences of the physicochemical properties of the catalyst, pollutant type, pH, temperature, O concentration, and other factors. It is also often claimed that good adsorption on the TiO surface is beneficial for the occurrence of synergism. Herein, we tested these assumptions by using five different commercial TiO photocatalysts (P25, PC500, PC100, PC10 and JRC-TiO-6) in three advanced oxidation systems - photocatalysis (O/TiO/UV), catalytic ozonation (O/TiO) and PH-OZ (O/TiO/UV) - for the degradation of two pollutants (dichloroacetic acid - DCAA and thiacloprid) simultaneously present in water.

Photodegradation mechanisms of reactive blue 19 dye under UV and simulated solar light irradiation.

In this work we performed dye photodegradation experiments in presence of TiO and Cu/Zr modified TiO. The changes in the shape of the spectra of RB19 caused by photocatalysts under the simulated solar or UV light were monitored. Since the predominant photocatalytic mechanism can only be observed in very dilute solution of RB19, UV-Vis absorption spectrometry for higher concentrations and thermal lens spectrometry for lower concentrations have been applied to elucidate the mechanistic details of degradation processes.

Highly active and efficient Cu-based hydrotalcite-like structured materials as reusable heterogeneous catalysts used for transcarbonation reaction.

A series of robust and efficient Cu-Al hydrotalcite-like compounds (HTLc) as catalysts were prepared by the simple precipitation method with different Cu/Al molar ratios and investigated for the transcarbonation of glycerol with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) for glycerol carbonate (GC) synthesis in a batch reactor. The structural and textural properties of the Cu-Al (HTLc) catalysts were analyzed by several methods like N-sorption, SEM-EDX/TEM, XRD, FTIR, CO-TPD, TGA/DTA and ICP-OES. It was found that the transcarbonation of glycerol is directly dependent on the strong basic sites of the catalysts.

One-Pot Synthesis of Sulfur-Doped TiO/Reduced Graphene Oxide Composite (S-TiO/rGO) With Improved Photocatalytic Activity for the Removal of Diclofenac From Water.

Sulfur-doped TiO (S-TiO) composites with reduced graphene oxide (rGO), wt. % of rGO equal to 0.5%, 2.

Recent Achievements in Development of TiO-Based Composite Photocatalytic Materials for Solar Driven Water Purification and Water Splitting.

Clean water and the increased use of renewable energy are considered to be two of the main goals in the effort to achieve a sustainable living environment. The fulfillment of these goals may include the use of solar-driven photocatalytic processes that are found to be quite effective in water purification, as well as hydrogen generation. H production by water splitting and photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in water both rely on the formation of electron/hole (e/h) pairs at a semiconducting material upon its excitation by light with sufficient photon energy.

The Role of Fluorine in F-La/TiO Photocatalysts on Photocatalytic Decomposition of Methanol-Water Solution.

F-La/TiO photocatalysts were studied in photocatalytic decomposition water-methanol solution. The structural, textural, optical, and electronic properties of F-La/TiO photocatalysts were studied by combination of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), nitrogen physisorption, Ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS), Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and X-ray fluorescence (XPS). The production of hydrogen in the presence of 2.

Field Test of Self-Cleaning Zr-Modified-TiO-SiO Films on Glass with a Demonstration of Their Anti-Fogging Effect.

The number of commercial products claiming self-cleaning properties is rising and testing of long-term activity and durability of such coatings needs to be addressed more. The time-dependent changes of different characteristics like haze, transparency, and color are essential for transparent glazing materials. Herein, we aimed to examine whether the laboratory results obtained on the Zr-modified-titania-silica (TiZr) self-cleaning materials would translate to larger-scale outdoor-exposed testing.

Surface Functionalization of Grown-on-Tip ZnO Nanopyramids: From Fabrication to Light-Triggered Applications.

We report on a combined chemical vapor deposition (CVD)/radio frequency (RF) sputtering synthetic strategy for the controlled surface modification of ZnO nanostructures by Ti-containing species. Specifically, the proposed approach consists in the CVD of grown-on-tip ZnO nanopyramids, followed by titanium RF sputtering under mild conditions. The results obtained by a thorough characterization demonstrate the successful ZnO surface functionalization with dispersed Ti-containing species in low amounts.

Transparent Photocatalytic Thin Films on Flexible Polymer Substrates.

Self-cleaning and/or photocatalytic films on polymer substrates have found numerous applications during the past decades. However, the common demand for high-temperature post synthesis treatment limits the application to temperature resistant substrates only. Herein, we prepared self-cleaning photocatalytic films on four thermosensitive polymeric substrates: polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and acryl coated polyester (PES) fabric (D2) with poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) containing lacquer (D1).

Multi-functional MnO nanomaterials for photo-activated applications by a plasma-assisted fabrication route.

Supported MnO2-based nanomaterials were fabricated on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrates using plasma enhanced-chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD) between 100 °C and 400 °C, starting from a fluorinated Mn(ii) diamine diketonate precursor. Growth experiments yielded β-MnO2 with a hierarchical morphology tuneable from dendritic structures to quasi-1D nanosystems as a function of growth temperature, whose variation also enabled a concomitant tailoring of the system fluorine content, and of the optical absorption and band gap. Preliminary photocatalytic tests were aimed at the investigation of photoinduced hydrophilic (PH) and solid phase photocatalytic (PC) performances of the present nanomaterials, as well as at the photodegradation of Plasmocorinth B azo-dye aqueous solutions.

Reactivation and reuse of TiO-SnS composite catalyst for solar-driven water treatment.

One of the most important features of photocatalytic materials intended to be used for water treatment is their long-term stability. The study is focused on the application of thermal and chemical treatments for the reactivation of TiO-SnS composite photocatalyst, prepared by hydrothermal synthesis and immobilized on the glass support using titania/silica binder. Such a catalytic system was applied in solar-driven treatment, solar/TiO-SnS/HO, for the purification of water contaminated with diclofenac (DCF).

Design and evaluation of a compact photocatalytic reactor for water treatment.

A compact reactor for photocatalytic oxidation and photocatalytic ozonation water treatment was developed and evaluated by using four model pollutants. Additionally, combinations of pollutants were evaluated. Specially produced AlO porous reticulated monolith foams served as TiO carriers, offering a high surface area support.

TiO-SnS nanocomposites: solar-active photocatalytic materials for water treatment.

The study is aimed at evaluating TiO-SnS composites as effective solar-active photocatalysts for water treatment. Two strategies for the preparation of TiO-SnS composites were examined: (i) in-situ chemical synthesis followed by immobilization on glass plates and (ii) binding of two components (TiO and SnS) within the immobilization step. The as-prepared TiO-SnS composites and their sole components (TiO or SnS) were inspected for composition, crystallinity, and morphology using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) analyses.

Novel two-step vapor-phase synthesis of UV-Vis light active FeO/WO nanocomposites for phenol degradation.

Supported FeO/WO nanocomposites were fabricated by an original vapor phase approach, involving the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of FeO on Ti sheets and the subsequent radio frequency (RF)-sputtering of WO. Particular attention was dedicated to the control of the W/Fe ratio, in order to tailor the composition of the resulting materials. The target systems were analyzed by the joint use of complementary techniques, that is, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and optical absorption spectroscopy.

Solar-driven photocatalytic treatment of diclofenac using immobilized TiO2-based zeolite composites.

The study is aimed at evaluating the potential of immobilized TiO2-based zeolite composite for solar-driven photocatalytic water treatment. In that purpose, TiO2-iron-exchanged zeolite (FeZ) composite was prepared using commercial Aeroxide TiO2 P25 and iron-exchanged zeolite of ZSM5 type, FeZ. The activity of TiO2-FeZ, immobilized on glass support, was evaluated under solar irradiation for removal of diclofenac (DCF) in water.

Properties and Application Perspective of Hybrid Titania-Silica Patterns Fabricated by Inkjet Printing.

A hybrid titania-silica cold-setting sol has been developed that can be deposited onto a wide variety of surfaces without the need for high-temperature fixing and that is suitable for material printing deposition. Thin hybrid titania-silica coatings were patterned onto glass and PET substrates by inkjet printing. Well-defined hybrid titania-silica patterns, with thicknesses ranging from 40 to 400 nm, were fabricated by overprinting 1 to 10 layers.