The development of photocatalysts that efficiently degrade organic pollutants is an important environmental-remediation objective. To that end, we report a strategy for the ready fabrication of oxygen-doped graphitic carbon nitride (CN) with engendered nitrogen deficiencies. The addition of KOH and oxalic acid during the thermal condensation of urea led to a material that exhibits a significantly higher pseudo-first-order rate constant for the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) (0.0225 min) compared to that of CN (0.00222 min). The enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of BPA exhibited by the dual-defect-modified CN (Bt-OA-CN) is ascribable to a considerable red-shift in its light absorption compared to that of CN, as well as its modulated energy band structure and more-efficient charge separation. Furthermore, we confirmed that the in-situ-formed cyano groups in the Bt-OA-CN photocatalyst act as strong electron-withdrawing groups that efficiently separate and transfer photo-generated charge carriers to the surface of the photocatalyst. This study provides novel insight into the in-situ dual-defect strategy for g-CN, which is extendable to the modification of other photocatalysts; it also introduces Bt-OA-CN as a potential highly efficient visible-light-responsive photocatalyst for use in environmental-remediation applications.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49949-6 | DOI Listing |
Sci Rep
December 2024
School of Earth Sciences, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing, 163318, China.
Numerous gas-rich, low resistivity shale wells have been discovered in the Luzhou deep shale gas of Sichuan Basin, providing strong evidence that low-resistivity shale also holds significant potential for shale gas exploration. However, existing research has limited understanding of the mechanisms of low resistivity in shale, and the mechanisms by which low-resistivity influences gas content remain unclear. Here, we conducted X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), total organic carbon (TOC) content, vitrinite reflectance (Ro), low-temperature N and CO adsorption experiments, methane isothermal adsorption experiments, nano-CT, laser Raman experiment, and well-logging curve to quantality evaluate the low resistivity shale formation mechanisms and explore the factors influencing gas content in low resistivity shale.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
December 2024
Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Colloidal properties of nanoparticles are intricately linked to their morphology. Traditionally, achieving high-concentration dispersions of two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets has proven challenging as they tend to agglomerate or re-stack under increased surface contact and Van der Waals attraction. Here, we unveil an excluded volume effect enabled by 2D morphology, which can be coupled with electrostatic repulsion to synthesize high-concentration aqueous graphene dispersions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAngew Chem Int Ed Engl
December 2024
University of Chicago Division of the Physical Sciences, Chemistry, 929 E 57th St, Gordon Center for Integrative Science, 60637, Chicago, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Intrinsic structural and oxidic defects activate graphitic carbon electrodes towards electrochemical reactions underpinning energy conversion and storage technologies. Yet, these defects can also disrupt the long-range and periodic arrangement of carbon atoms, and thus the characterization of graphitic carbon electrodes necessitate in-situ atomistic differentiation of graphitic regions from mesoscopic bulk disorder. Here, we leverage the combined techniques of in-situ attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy and first-principles calculations to reveal that graphitic carbon electrodes exhibit electric-field dependent infrared activity that is sensitive to the bulk mesoscopic intrinsic disorder.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Sci (Weinh)
December 2024
Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China.
High-temperature graphitization of graphene oxide (GO) is a crucial step for enhancing interlayer stacking and repairing the in-plane defects of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) films. However, the fine control of the structural repair and reducing the energy consumption in thermal treatment remain challenges. In this study, ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations combined with experiments are used to investigate the structural evolution of rGO upon thermal annealing, with or without the presence of single-layer graphene (SLG).
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December 2024
College of Physical Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, Jiangsu, China.
Nanomaterial-biomembrane interactions constitute a critical biological process in assessing the toxicity of such materials in theoretical studies. However, many investigations simplify these interactions by using membrane models containing only one or a few lipid types, deviating significantly from the complexity of real membrane compositions. In particular, cholesterol, a ubiquitous lipid essential for regulating membrane fluidity and closely linked to various diseases, is often overlooked.
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