Synthesis, Structure, and Photocatalysis in a New Structural Variant of the Aurivillius Phase: LiBi4M3O14 (M = Nb, Ta)

Novel layered Bi3MoMTO9 (MT = Mn, Fe, Co and Ni) thin films with tunable multifunctionalities

Bi3MoMTO9 (BMoMTO; MT, transition metals of Mn, Fe, Co and Ni) thin films with a layered supercell structure have been deposited on LaAlO3 (001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Microstructural analysis suggests that pillar-like domains with higher transition metal concentration (e.g., Mn, Fe, Co and Ni) are embedded in the Mo-rich matrix with layered supercell structures. The layered supercell structure of the BMoMTO thin films accounts for the anisotropic multifunctionalities such as the magnetic easy axis along the in-plane direction, and the anisotropic optical properties. Ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism have been demonstrated in the thin films at room temperature, which confirms the multiferroic nature of the system. By varying the transition metal MT in the film, the band gaps of the BMoMTO films can be effectively tuned from 2.44 eV to 2.82 eV, while the out-of-plane dielectric constant of the thin films also varies. The newly discovered layered nanocomposite systems present their potential in ferroelectrics, multiferroics and non-linear optics.

Novel High Efficiency Layered Oxide Photocatalyst Li2SnO3 for Rhodamine B and Tetracycline Degradation

The use of a layered Li2SnO3 material as an efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of environmental pollutants (Rhodamine B and tetracycline) was investigated. The structure and morphology of the material were characterized using powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Optical measurements demonstrated that Li2SnO3 was a UV-light-responsive material with a band gap of 3.71 eV. The maximum kinetic rate constants of photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B and tetracycline solutions were 0.0155 min−1 and 0.0406 min−1 · L/mg, respectively, when exposed to UV-light irradiation within 120 min. Trapping experiments demonstrated that holes ( h + ) , hydroxyl radical ( · O H ) and superoxide radical ( · O 2 − ) were the dominant active species during the degradation of Rhodamine B and tetracycline. Theoretical band structure calculations revealed that Li2SnO3 was a direct gap semiconductor with a large m h * / m e * value (4.7) near the band edge. Partial charge density near the top of the valence band indicated that the photocatalytic oxidation reaction occurred largely on the O-2p states. The excellent photocatalytic performance was attributed to the synergistic effect of the layered crystal structure and large m h * / m e * . This work represents an important contribution to the design and optimization of efficient oxide photocatalysts with layered crystal structures for environmental remediation.

pH-Mediated Collective and Selective Solar Photocatalysis by a Series of Layered Aurivillius Perovskites

Semiconductor photocatalysis under natural sunlight is an emergent area in contemporary materials research, which has attracted considerable attention toward the development of catalysts for environmental remediation using solar energy. A series of five-layer Aurivillius-phase perovskites, Bi₅ATi₄FeO₁₈ (A = Ca, Sr, and Pb), are synthesized for the first time. Rietveld refinements of the powder X-ray diffraction data indicated orthorhombic structure for the Aurivillius phases with Fe largely occupying the central octahedral layer, whereas the divalent cations (Ca, Sr, and Pb) are statistically distributed over the cubo-octahedral A-sites of the perovskite. The compounds with visible-light-absorbing ability (E _g ranging from ∼2.0 to 2.2 eV) not only exhibit excellent collective photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B-methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B-rhodamine 6G mixture at pH 2 but also show almost 100% photocatalytic selective degradation of MB from the rhodamine B-MB mixture at pH 11 under natural solar irradiation. The selectivity in the alkaline medium is believed to originate from the combined effect of the photocatalytic degradation of MB by the Aurivillius-phase perovskites and the photolysis of MB. Although a substantial decrease in MB adsorption from the mixed dye solution (MB + RhB) together with slower MB photolysis at the neutral pH makes the selective MB degradation sluggish, the compounds showed excellent photocatalytic degradation activity and chemical oxygen demand removal efficacy toward individual RhB (at pH 2) and MB (at pH 11) under sunlight irradiation. The catalysts are exceptionally stable and retain good crystallinity even after five successive cyclic runs without any noticeable loss of activity in both the acidic and alkaline media. The present work provides an important insight into the development of layered perovskite photocatalysts for collective degradation of multiple pollutants and selective removal of one or multiple pollutants from a mixture. The later idea may open up new possibilities for recovery/purification of useful chemical substances from the contaminated medium through selective photocatalysis.

Property Characterization and Photocatalytic Activity Evaluation of BiGdO₃ Nanoparticles under Visible Light Irradiation

BiGdO₃ nanoparticles were prepared by a solid-state reaction method and applied in photocatalytic degradation of dyes in this study. BiGdO₃ was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that BiGdO₃ crystallized well with the fluorite-type structure, a face-centered cubic crystal system and a space group Fm3m 225. The lattice parameter of BiGdO₃ was 5.465 angstrom. The band gap of BiGdO₃ was estimated to be 2.25 eV. BiGdO₃ showed a strong optical absorption during the visible light region. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of BiGdO₃ was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of direct dyes in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. BiGdO₃ demonstrated excellent photocatalytic activity in degrading Direct Orange 26 (DO-26) or Direct Red 23 (DR-23) under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic degradation of DO-26 or DR-23 followed the first-order reaction kinetics, and the first-order rate constant was 0.0046 or 0.0023 min(-1) with BiGdO₃ as catalyst. The degradation intermediates of DO-26 were observed and the possible photocatalytic degradation pathway of DO-26 under visible light irradiation was provided. The effect of various operational parameters on the photocatalytic activity and the stability of BiGdO₃ particles were also discussed in detail. BiGdO₃/(visible light) photocatalysis system was confirmed to be suitable for textile industry wastewater treatment.

In situ synthesis and excellent photocatalytic activity of tiny Bi decorated bismuth tungstate nanorods

Uniformly dispersed Bi in close contact with bismuth tungstate can enhance the photocatalytic efficiency of the bismuth tungstate.

Excellent sun-light-driven photocatalytic activity by aurivillius layered perovskites, Bi₅-xLaxTi₃FeO₁₅ (x = 1, 2)

Aurivillius phase layered perovskites, Bi5-xLaxTi3FeO15 (x = 1, 2) are synthesized by solid-state reaction. The compounds are characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance (UV-vis DRS), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. UV-vis DRS data revealed that the compounds are visible light absorbing semiconductors with band gaps ranging from ∼2.0-2.7 eV. Photocatalytic activity studies by Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation under sun-light irradiation showed that these layered oxides are very efficient photocatalysts in mild acidic medium. Scavenger test studies demonstrated that the photogenerated holes and superoxide radicals (O2(•-)) are the active species responsible for RhB degradation over the Aurivillius layered perovskites. Comparison of PL intensity, dye adsorption and ζ-potential suggested that a slow e(-)-h(+) recombination and effective dye adsorption are crucial for the degradation process over these photocatalysts. Moreover, relative positioning of the valence and conduction band edges of the semiconductors, O2/O2(•-), (•)OH/H2O potential and HOMO-LUMO levels of RhB appears to be responsible for making the degradation hole-specific. Photocatalytic cycle tests indicated high stability of the catalysts in the reaction medium without any observable loss of activity. This work shows great potential in developing novel photocatalysts with layered structures for sun-light-driven oxidation and degradation processes largely driven by holes and without any intervention of hydroxyl radicals, which is one of the most common reactive oxygen species (ROS) in many advanced oxidation processes.

A survey of photocatalytic materials for environmental remediation

Heterogeneous photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation process which has been the subject of a huge amount of studies related to air cleaning and water purification. All these processes have been carried out mainly by using TiO(2)-based materials as the photocatalysts and ca. 75% of the articles published in the last 3 years is related to them. This review illustrates the efforts in the search of alternative photocatalysts that are not based on TiO(2), with some exceptions concerning particularly innovative modifications as nanoassembled TiO(2) or TiO(2) composites with active carbon, graphite and fullerene. Papers reporting preparation, characterization and testing of binary, ternary and quaternary compounds, have been reviewed. Despite many of these photocatalysts being effective for the photodecomposition of many pollutants, most of them do not allow a complete mineralization of the starting compounds, differently from TiO(2).

Efficient photocatalytic removal of NO in indoor air with hierarchical bismuth oxybromide nanoplate microspheres under visible light

In this study, hierarchical bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) nanoplate microspheres were used to remove NO in indoor air under visible light irradiation. The BiOBr microspheres were synthesized with a nonaqueous sol-gel method by using bismuth nitrate and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide as the precursors. On degradation of NO under visible light irradiation (lambda > 420 nm) at 400 part-per-billion level, which is typical concentration for indoor air quality, these nonaqueous sol-gel synthesized hierarchical BiOBr microspheres exhibited superior photocatalytic activity to the chemical precipitation synthesized counterpart BiOBr bulk powder and Degussa TiO2 P25 as well as C doped TiO2. The excellent catalytic activity and the long-term activity of nonaqueous sol-gel synthesized BiOBr microspheres were attributed to their special hierarchical structure, which was favorable for the diffusion of intermediates and final products of NO oxidation. Ion chromatograph results confirmed that nitric acid was produced on the surface of BiOBr microspheres during the photooxidation of NO in gas phase. This work suggests that the nonaqueous sol-gel synthesized BiOBr nanoplate microspheres are promising photocatalytic materials for indoor air purification.

Novel Photocatalysts for the Decomposition of Organic Dyes Based on Metal-Organic Framework Compounds

Three novel metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) [Co(2)(C(10)H(8)N(2))][C(12)H(8)O(COO)(2)](2), 1, [Ni(2)(C(10)H(8)N(2))(2)][C(12)H(8)O(COO)(2)](2).H(2)O, 2, and [Zn(2)(C(10)H(8)N(2))][C(12)H(8)O(COO)(2)](2), 3, with three-dimensional structures have been synthesized and characterized. The structures of the three compounds appear somewhat related, formed by the connectivity involving the metal polyhedra (Co(4)N trigonal bipyramids in 1, NiO(4)N(2) octahedra in 2, and ZnO(4) tetrahedra and ZnO(3)N(2) trigonal bipyramids in 3), 4,4'-oxybis(benzoate), and 4,4'-bipyridine. The photocatalytic studies on 1-3 indicate that they are active catalysts for the degradation of orange G, rhodamine B, Remazol Brilliant Blue R and methylene blue. The compounds have also been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, IR, thermogravitmetric analysis, UV-vis, photoluminescence, and magnetic studies.