Red anatase TiO microspheres with exposed major {001} facets and boron-stabilized hydrogen-occupied oxygen vacancies for visible-light-responsive water oxidation.

In pursuit of efficient solar energy to chemical energy conversion through band engineering of wide-bandgap photocatalysts such as TiO, a compromise occurs between a narrow bandgap and high-redox-capacity photo-induced charge carriers, which impairs the potential advantages associated with the widened absorption range. The key to this compromise is an integrative modifier that can simultaneously modulate both the bandgap and band edge positions. Herein, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that oxygen vacancies occupied by boron-stabilized hydrogen pairs (OV) serve as an integrative band modifier.

Control of Spatially Homogeneous Distribution of Heteroatoms to Produce Red TiO Photocatalyst for Visible-Light Photocatalytic Water Splitting.

The strong band-to-band absorption of photocatalysts spanning the whole visible-light region (400-700 nm) is critically important for solar-driven photocatalysis. Although it has been actively and widely used as a photocatalyst for various reactions in the past four decades, TiO has a very poor ability to capture the whole spectrum of visible light. In this work, by controlling the spatially homogeneous distribution of boron and nitrogen heteroatoms in anatase TiO microspheres with a predominance of high-energy {001} facets, a strong visible-light absorption spectrum with a sharp edge beyond 680 nm has been achieved.

Plant tannin immobilized FeO@SiO microspheres: A novel and green magnetic bio-sorbent with superior adsorption capacities for gold and palladium.

In this paper, a new core-shell nanostructured magnetic bio-based composite was prepared by immobilizing persimmon tannin (PT) onto FeO@SiO microspheres, and the as designed FeO@SiO@PT was utilized for adsorptive recovery of Au(III) and Pd(II). The preparation, morphology, composition and magnetic property of FeO@SiO@PT were characterized. Adsorption parameters of FeO@SiO@PT towards Au(III) and Pd(II) including initial pH, reaction time, initial concentration of metal ions, effect of acidity and interference of coexisting metal ions were investigated.