Rapid Growth of Metal-Metal Oxide Core-Shell Structures through Joule Resistive Heating: Morphological, Structural, and Luminescence Characterization

The aim of this study is to prove that resistive heating enables the synthesis of metal/metal oxide composites in the form of core-shell structures. The thickness and morphology of the oxide layer depends strongly on the nature of the metal, but the influences of parameters such as the time and current profiles and the presence of an external field have also been investigated. The systems chosen for the present study are Zn/ZnO, Ti/TiO2, and Ni/NiO. The characterization of the samples was performed using techniques based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thicknesses of the oxide layers varied from 10 μm (Zn/ZnO) to 50 μm (Ni/NiO). In the case of Zn- and Ti-based composites, the growth of nanostructures on the oxide layer was observed. Micro- and nanoneedles formed on the ZnO layer while prism-like structures appeared on the TiO2. In the case of the NiO layer, micro- and nanocrystals were observed. Applying an external electric field seemed to align the ZnO needles, whereas its effect on TiO2 and NiO was less appreciable, principally affecting the shape of their grain boundaries. The chemical compositions were analysed using X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), which confirmed the existence of an oxide layer. Structural information was obtained by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and was later checked using Raman spectroscopy. The oxide layers seemed to be crystalline and, although some non-stoichiometric phases appeared, the stoichiometric phases were predominant; these were wurtzite, rutile, and cubic for Zn, Ti, and Ni oxides, respectively. The photoluminescence technique was used to study the distribution of defects on the shell, and mainly visible bands (2-2.5 eV), attributed to oxygen vacancies, were present. The near-band edges of ZnO and TiO2 were also observed around 3.2-3.3 eV.

Luminescence in Anion-Deficient Hafnia Nanotubes

Hafnia-based nanostructures and other high-k dielectrics are promising wide-gap materials for developing new opto- and nanoelectronic devices. They possess a unique combination of physical and chemical properties, such as insensitivity to electrical and optical degradation, radiation damage stability, a high specific surface area, and an increased concentration of the appropriate active electron-hole centers. The present paper aims to investigate the structural, optical, and luminescent properties of anodized non-stoichiometric HfO2 nanotubes. As-grown amorphous hafnia nanotubes and nanotubes annealed at 700 °C with a monoclinic crystal lattice served as samples. It has been shown that the bandgap Eg for direct allowed transitions amounts to 5.65 ± 0.05 eV for amorphous and 5.51 ± 0.05 eV for monoclinic nanotubes. For the first time, we have studied the features of intrinsic cathodoluminescence and photoluminescence in the obtained nanotubular HfO2 structures with an atomic deficiency in the anion sublattice at temperatures of 10 and 300 K. A broad emission band with a maximum of 2.3-2.4 eV has been revealed. We have also conducted an analysis of the kinetic dependencies of the observed photoluminescence for synthesized HfO2 samples in the millisecond range at room temperature. It showed that there are several types of optically active capture and emission centers based on vacancy states in the O3f and O4f positions with different coordination numbers and a varied number of localized charge carriers (V0, V-, and V2-). The uncovered regularities can be used to optimize the functional characteristics of developed-surface luminescent media based on nanotubular and nanoporous modifications of hafnia.

Synthesis and antibacterial activities of Ag-TiO2/ZIF-8

In recent years, massive bacterial infections have led to human illness and death, reminding us of the urgent need to develop effective and long-lasting antimicrobial materials. In this paper, Ag-TiO2/ZIF-8 with good environmental friendliness and biological antibacterial activity was prepared by solvothermal method. The structure and morphology of the synthesized materials were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM-EDS, TEM, XPS, and BET. To investigate the antibacterial activity of the synthesized samples, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis were used as target bacteria for experimental studies of zone of inhibition, bacterial growth curves, minimum bactericidal concentration and antibacterial durability. The results demonstrated that 20 wt.%Ag-TiO2/ZIF-8 had the best bacteriostatic effect on E. coli and B. subtilis under dark and UV conditions compared to TiO2 and ZIF-8. Under the same conditions, the diameter of the inhibition circle of 20 wt% Ag-TiO2/ZIF-8 is 8.5-11.5 mm larger than that of its constituent material 4 wt% Ag-TiO2, with more obvious antibacterial effect and better antibacterial performance. It is also proposed that the excellent antibacterial activity of Ag-TiO2/ZIF-8 is due to the synergistic effect of Ag-TiO2 and ZIF-8 under UV light. In addition, the prepared material has good stability and durability with effective antimicrobial activity for more than 5 months.

Synthesis, Characterization and Photocatalytic Activity of Spherulite-like r-TiO2 in Hydrogen Evolution Reaction and Methyl Violet Photodegradation

Synthesis and characterization of spherulite-like nanocrystalline titania with rutile structure (r-TiO2) are described herein. The r-TiO2 particles were synthesized via the convenient and low-cost hydrothermal treatment of TiO(C6H6O7) titanyl citrate. The r-TiO2 spherulites are micron-sized agglomerates of rod-shaped nanocrystals with characteristic sizes of 7(±2) × 43(±10) nm, oriented along (101) crystallographic direction, and separated by micropores, as revealed by SEM and TEM. PXRD and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the nanocrystalline nature of r-TiO2 crystallites. BET analysis showed a high specific surface area of 102.6 m2/g and a pore volume of 6.22 mm3/g. Photocatalytic performances of the r-TiO2 spherulites were investigated for the processes of methyl violet (MV) degradation in water and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in aqueous solutions of ethanol. The (MV) degradation kinetics was found to be first-order and the degradation rate coefficient is 2.38 × 10−2 min−1. The HER was performed using pure r-TiO2 spherulites and nanocomposite r-TiO2 spherulites with platinum deposited on the surface (r-TiO2/Pt). It was discovered that the r-TiO2/Pt nanocomposite has a 15-fold higher hydrogen evolution rate than pure r-TiO2; their rates are 161 and 11 nmol/min, respectively. Thus, the facile synthesis route and the high photocatalytic performances of the obtained nanomaterials make them promising for commercial use in such photocatalytic processes as organic contamination degradation and hydrogen evolution.

Boosting the Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation Performance of TiO2 Nanotubes by Surface Modification Using Silver Phosphate

Photoelectrocatalytic approaches are fascinating options for long-lasting energy storage through the transformation of solar energy into electrical energy or hydrogen fuel. Herein, we report a facile method of fabricating a composite electrode of well-aligned TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs) decorated with photodeposited silver phosphate (Ag3PO4) nanoparticles. Assessment of the optical, physiochemical and photoelectrochemical features demonstrated that the fabricated TNTs/Ag3PO4 films showed a substantially boosted photocurrent response of 0.74 mA/cm2, almost a 3-fold enrichment in comparison with the pure TNTs. Specifically, the applied bias photon-to-current efficiency of the fabricated TNTs/Ag3PO4 composite electrode was 2.4-fold superior to that of the pure TNTs electrode. In these TNTs/Ag3PO4 photoanodes, the introduction of Ag3PO4 over TNTs enhanced light absorption and improved charge transfer and surface conductivity. The developed process can be generally applied to designing and developing efficient contact interfaces between photoanodes and numerous cocatalysts.

Synthesis of Durian-like TiO2@CdS Core-Shell Structure and Study on H2 Generation Properties

Novel durian-like TiO2@CdS core-shell particles were synthesized through a solvothermal method in ethylenediamine solution and the obtained nanocomposites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) techniques. It can be seen from the characterization that the synthesized core-shell structured particles show uniform size. The possible formation mechanism of TiO2@CdS core-shell particles is also presented schematically. CdS grows on the TiO2 surface in the form of nanorods, turning the TiO2@CdS composite particles into durian-like structures. The durian-like TiO2@CdS core-shell particles prepared in the experiment can overcome the disadvantages of TiO2 and CdS, respectively. They not only produce a higher yield of H2 than pure TiO2; the durian-like TiO2@CdS nanostructures formed at 180 °C for 16 h produced 2.5 times as much H2 as did TiO2, also showing enhanced stability as compared with pure CdS.

Role of Post-Hydrothermal Treatment on the Microstructures and Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2-Based Nanotubes

The present study demonstrates the thermal stability and photocatalytic activity of TiO2-based nanotubes with respect to post-hydrothermal treatment. Titanate nanotubes were synthesized by adapting an alkali hydrothermal method from TiO2 sol using NaOH as a catalyst. The effect of post-hydrothermal heating on the properties—such as structure, morphology, textural properties, and activity—of as-synthesized one-dimensional titania nanostructure is investigated in detail. The characterizations are carried out using SEM, EDX, TEM, XRD, and a BET surface area analyzer. When heated in the presence of water in an autoclave, the protonated titanate phase of the nanotubes converts to anatase phase. Meanwhile, the tubular morphology is gradually lost as the post-hydrothermal heating duration increases. The photocatalytic activity was assessed utilizing the photo-oxidation of an amaranth dye. It is discerned that the as-prepared nanotubes are photocatalytically inactive but become active after post-hydrothermal processing. The activity trend follows the formation of the active phase—the titanate phase crystallizes into a photocatalytically-active anatase phase during post-hydrothermal heating. The effect of experimental parameters, such as reaction pH, dye concentration, and amount of catalyst, on the dye removal is studied. The findings also highlight that the role of holes/OH• is more prominent as compared to conduction band electron/O2−• for the removal of the dye. In addition, the photocatalyst exhibited excellent stability and reusability.

Titanate Nanotubes-Based Heterogeneous Catalyst for Efficient Production of Biomass Derived Chemicals

The development of efficient heterogeneous catalytic system to convert plentiful biomass to renewable bio-chemicals is urgent need. Titanate nanotubes-based materials obtained from hydrothermal treatment have been reported as low-cost and efficient catalytic materials in chemical syntheses for bio-based chemicals production with interesting catalytic performance. This mini-review expressly revealed the significance and potential of using titanate nanotubes based material as sustainable and environmentally benign solid catalysts/supports for synthesis of various bio-based chemicals, including glycerol-derived solketal, jet fuel range alkanes precursors, biomass-derived esters, aldehydes, aromatic compounds and so on. From the current knowledge on titanate nanotubes-based material via hydrothermal method here summarized, the future lines of research in the field of catalysis/supports for bio-based chemicals production are outlined.