Bi/BiPO4 nanocubes supported BiOI-BiOCl nanoplate as a heterostructured blue-light-driven photocatalyst for degradation of Auramine O

One pot green synthesis of Al doped zinc ferrite nanoparticle decorated with reduced graphene oxide for photocatalytic remediation of organic pollutants: Green synthesis, kinetics, and photoactivity

The world is drawn to the widespread use, toxicity, and bioaccumulation of the Atrazine (AT) and Auramine O (AO). Pesticides and dyes also have endocrine disruptors, genotoxic and persistent properties. Therefore, the photodegradation of AT and AO in water was investigated. Herein, the structural design of Al-ZnFe2O4 incorporated in rGO nanocomposite has been synthesized via facile precipitation and green synthesis methodology. PXRD and microscopic analysis confirmed the reduced crystallinity nature of Al-ZnFe2O4 due to the incorporation of amorphous rGO. The green Al-ZnFe2O4@rGO nanocomposite (AT: 90%; AO: 95%) showed maximum degradation as compared to native nanoparticles with minimum pollutants concentration of 10 mg catalytic dose at neutral pH in sunlight irradiation due to negative zeta potential (-36.0 mV), higher surface area (163 m2g-1) and tailored band gap (2.1 eV). First-order kinetics followed by initial Langmuir adsorption constituted the degradation process. The presence of different radical quenchers (t-BuOH, p-BZQ, Na2EDTA) concluded that hydroxyl radical plays a significant role in the degradation of toxic AT and AO. Green fabricated Al-ZnFe2O4@rGO also showed excellent efficiency for the degradation of AT and AO pollutant in real wastewater sample. Nanocomposite demonstrated remarkable sustainability and cost-effectiveness by remaining effective for up to nine cycles without experiencing any appreciable activity reduction. Due to its favorable surface features, Al-ZnFe2O4@rGO nanocomposite made via green process is a unique and potential photocatalyst for industrial applications.

Bifunctional quaternary magnetic composite as efficient heterojunctions photocatalyst for simultaneous photocatalytic visible light degradation of dye and herbicide pollutants from water and bacterial disinfection

In the present study, the magnetic Fe3O4/Ag2C2O4/Ag3PO4/Ag nanocomposite were prepared through a simple co-precipitation method by using calendula officinalis seed extract as a stabilizer. The fabricated quaternary photocatalyst was applied for to degrade food dye Brilliant Blue FCF (BB) and herbicide Paraquat (PQ) as contaminants at binary mixture in a batch and continuous flow-loop photoreactor under visible light irradiation and also the antibacterial properties was investigated. The fabricated nanocomposite was determined by XRD, FESEM, EDX, BET&BJH, UV-DRS, FT-IR and VSM methods to gain insight about structure, morphology, purity, surface area, optical, functional group and magnetic properties. The photoelectrochemical experiments, PL and DRS indicate the successful coupling of the active semiconductors. The degradation efficiency of BB and PQ was announced to be 88.9% and 92.72% under optimal conditions with a high reaction rate constant value (0.03 and 0.0326 min-1), respectively. The quaternary photocatalyst exhibited superior photocatalytic performance compared with Ag3PO4/Ag2C2O4 and Ag2C2O4. Various scavengers were used to explore the mechanism of photocatalytic performance and supports that [Formula: see text] and OH. is main active species in the degradation process of BB and PQ, respectively. Furthermore, the Fe3O4/Ag2C2O4/Ag3PO4/Ag also demonstrated bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) as gram-positive bacteria and Escherichia coli (E. coli) as gram-negative bacteria.

Ionic liquids assisted preparation of BiPO4 photocatalyst with enhanced photocatalytic activity for tetracycline and rhodamine B removal

In this work, BiPO4 (BPO)-based photocatalyst was successfully synthesized by a conventional hydrothermal strategy using bismuth nitrate pentahydrate (Bi(NO3)3·5H2O) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dihydro phosphate ([EMIm]H2PO4). [EMIm]H2PO4 can serve as a phosphorus source and surfactant. Photocatalytic activities of the photocatalysts prepared were evaluated by the destruction of rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline (TC) under UV light irradiation, respectively. The results reveal that the sample (IL-BPO) synthesized with the assistance of ionic liquid exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity in comparison with the reference BiPO4. The significantly improved photocatalytic activity of IL-BPO can be mainly attributed to the boosted separation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs (e-/h+) and richer oxygen vacancies (OVs).

Hyaluronic acid-coated ultrasmall BiOI nanoparticles as a potentially targeted contrast agent for X-ray computed tomography

Commercial X-ray computed tomography (CT) contrast agents (CAs) are not appropriate for multicolor CT imaging and are limited due to a lack of tumor targeting. In this contribution, to favor the combination of high Z elements like bismuth and iodine for a broad range of X-ray photon energy, BiOI nanoparticles (NPs) are synthesized with hyaluronic acid (HA) coating to target the tumor cells with CD44 overexpression. The crystal structure of BiOI NPs is determined by X-ray powder diffraction, and the size of NPs is determined by a transmission electron microscope at about 14 ± 3 nm. The dynamic diameter of the NPs (DLS) in PBS buffer was measured at about 100 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis confirm the coating of BiOI NPs with HA. The stability of the NPs was also investigated via UV-vis spectroscopy. The immunocytochemistry process is performed to investigate the targeting ability of synthesized NPs on the human colon cancer cells with CD44 antigen. Finally, the X-ray attenuation of prepared HA-coated BiOI NPs is higher than Iohexol as the commercially available iodinated contrasting agent at the same concentrations, which can be administrated at much lower doses to achieve similar contrast to Iohexol.