Roles of Crystal Surface in Pt-Loaded Titania for Photocatalytic Conversion of Organic Pollutants: A First-Principle Theoretical Calculation

Embedding Hierarchical Pores by Mechanochemistry in Carbonates with Superior Chemoselective Catalysis and Stability

Hierarchical porosity of carbonates can facilitate their performance in massive applications as compared to their corresponding bulk samples. Traditional solution-based precipitation is typically utilized to fabricate porous carbonates. However, this tactic is generally employed under humid conditions, which demand soluble metal precursors, solvents, and extended dry periods. A salt-assisted mechanochemistry is exploited in contemporary work to settle the shortcomings. Enlighted by solid-state technology, this approach eliminates the utilization of solvents, and the process of ball milling can create pores in 5 min. A range of highly porous carbonates and their derivatives are acquired, with several materials surpassing recording surface areas (e.g., H-CaCO3: 108 m2/g, SrCO3: 125 m2/g, BaCO3: 172 m2/g, Pd/H-CaCO3 catalyst: 101 m2/g). The results display that Pd/H-CaCO3 shows superior catalytic efficiency in the synthesis of aniline (turnover frequency [TON] = 1.33 × 104/h-1, yield ≥ 99%, and recycle stability: 11 cycles) and dye degradation. Combining mechanochemistry and salt-assisted tactic provides a facile and efficient pathway for processing porous materials.

Atomically Dispersed Manganese on Biochar Derived from a Hyperaccumulator for Photocatalysis in Organic Pollution Remediation

Phytoremediation is a potentially cost-effective and environmentally friendly remediation method for environmental pollution. However, the safe treatment and resource utilization of harvested biomass has become a limitation in practical applications. To address this, a novel manganese-carbon-based single-atom catalyst (SAC) method has been developed based on the pyrolysis of a manganese hyperaccumulator, Phytolacca americana. In this method, manganese atoms are dispersed atomically in the carbon matrix and coordinate with N atoms to form a Mn-N₄ structure. The SAC developed exhibited a high photooxidation efficiency and excellent stability during the degradation of a common organic pollutant, rhodamine B. The Mn-N₄ site was the active center in the transformation of photoelectrons via the transfer of photoelectrons between adsorbed O₂ and Mn to produce reactive oxygen species, identified by in situ X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. This work demonstrates an approach that increases potential utilization of biomass during phytoremediation and provides a promising design strategy to synthesize cost-effective SACs for environmental applications.

Potential of TiO2 with Various Au Nanoparticles for Catalyzing Mesotrione Removal from Wastewaters under Sunlight

Nowadays, great focus is given to the contamination of surface and groundwater because of the extensive usage of pesticides in agriculture. The improvements of commercial catalyst TiO₂ activity using different Au nanoparticles were investigated for mesotrione photocatalytic degradation under simulated sunlight. The selected system was 2.43 × 10⁻³% Au–S–CH₂–CH₂–OH/TiO₂ (0.5 g/L) that was studied by transmission electron microscopy and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. It was found that TiO₂ particles size was ~20 nm and ~50 nm, respectively. The Au nanoparticles were below 10 nm and were well distributed within the framework of TiO₂. For 2.43 × 10⁻³% Au–S–CH₂–CH₂–OH/TiO₂ (0.5 g/L), band gap energy was 2.45 eV. In comparison to the pure TiO₂, addition of Au nanoparticles generally enhanced photocatalytic removal of mesotrione. By examining the degree of mineralization, it was found that 2.43 × 10⁻³% Au–S–CH₂–CH₂–OH/TiO₂ (0.5 g/L) system was the most efficient for the removal of the mesotrione and intermediates. The effect of tert-butanol, NaF and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt on the transformation rate suggested that the relative contribution of various reactive species changed in following order: h⁺ > ^●OH_ads > ^●OH_bulk. Finally, several intermediates that were formed during the photocatalytic treatment of mesotrione were identified.

Synthesis of a Rationally Designed Multi-Component Photocatalyst Pt:SiO2:TiO2(P25) with Improved Activity for Dye Degradation by Atomic Layer Deposition

Photocatalysts for water purification typically lack efficiency for practical applications. Here we present a multi-component (Pt:SiO₂:TiO₂(P25)) material that was designed using knowledge of reaction mechanisms of mono-modified catalysts (SiO₂:TiO₂, and Pt:TiO₂) combined with the potential of atomic layer deposition (ALD). The deposition of ultrathin SiO₂ layers on TiO₂ nanoparticles, applying ALD in a fluidized bed reactor, demonstrated in earlier studies their beneficial effects for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants due to more acidic surface Si–OH groups which benefit the generation of hydroxyl radicals. Furthermore, our investigation on the role of Pt on TiO₂(P25), as an improved photocatalyst, demonstrated that suppression of charge recombination by oxygen adsorbed on the Pt particles, reacting with the separated electrons to superoxide radicals, acts as an important factor for the catalytic improvement. Combining both materials into the resulting Pt:SiO₂:TiO₂(P25) nanopowder exceeded the dye degradation performance of both the individual SiO₂:TiO₂(P25) (1.5 fold) and Pt:TiO₂(P25) (4-fold) catalysts by 6-fold as compared to TiO₂(P25). This approach thus shows that by understanding the individual materials’ behavior and using ALD as an appropriate deposition technique enabling control on the nano-scale, new materials can be designed and developed, further improving the photocatalytic activity. Our research demonstrates that ALD is an attractive technology to synthesize multicomponent catalysts in a precise and scalable way.

RGO/TiO2 nanosheets immobilized on magnetically actuated artificial cilia film: a new mode for efficient photocatalytic reaction

Exploring a proper mode for practical reaction and efficient recycle has been an extensively studied subject in the photocatalysis field.

Light-induced spatial separation of charges toward different crystal facets of square-like WO3

Light-induced preferential migration of electrons and holes to the minor (200) and (020) facets and the dominant (002) facets of square-like WO₃, respectively, resulted in the square-like WO₃ nanoplates with Pt loaded mainly on dominant (002) facets shows higher photocatalytic activity than that Pt loaded on the minor facets.

New insight on facet-dependent physicochemical properties of anatase TiO2 nanostructures for efficient photocatalysis

Crystal growth mechanisms and physicochemical properties associated with the photocatalytic activities have been systematically investigated.

BiOX/BiOY (X, Y = F, Cl, Br, I) superlattices for visible light photocatalysis applications

BiOF/BiOI, BiOCl/BiOBr, BiOCl/BiOI, and BiOBr/BiOI superlattices are suitable for visible light photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.

Synthesis of Pt-Loaded Self-Interspersed Anatase TiO2 with a Large Fraction of (001) Facets for Efficient Photocatalytic Nitrobenzene Degradation

TiO2 is capable of directly utilizing solar energy for sustainable energy harvest and water purification. Facet-dependent performance of TiO2 has attracted enormous interests due to its tunable photocatalytic activity toward photoredox transformations, but information about the noble-metal-loaded TiO2 for its facet-dependent photocatalytic performance, especially in pollutant degradation systems, is limited. In this work, inspired by our previous theoretical calculations about the roles of the crystal surface in Pt-loaded TiO2 in its enhanced photocatalytic capacity, TiO2 nanocrystals with interspersed polyhedron nanostructures and coexposed (001) and (101) surfaces as a support of Pt nanoparticles are prepared in a simple and relatively green route. Also, their performance for photocatalytic degradation of nitrobenzene (NB), a model organic pollutant, is explored. The experimental results demonstrate that the NB photodegradation and photoconversion efficiencies are significantly enhanced by uniformly loading Pt nanoparticles on the crystal surfaces, but the Pt nanoparticles deposited on only the (101) surface have no contribution to the improved NB photodegradation. Furthermore, the liquid chromatography mass spectrometry results also show that NB photodegradation tends to proceed on the (001) surface of Pt/TiO2 for the generation of nitrophenol intermediates through the photooxidation pathway. This work provides a new route to design and construct advanced photocatalysts toward pollutant photoredox conversions and deepens our fundamental understanding about crystal surface engineering.