Oxygen Vacancy Mediated Band-Gap Engineering via B-Doping for Enhancing Z-Scheme A-TiO2/R-TiO2 Heterojunction Photocatalytic Performance

Enhanced optical and structural traits of irradiated lead borate glasses via Ce3+ and Dy3+ ions with studying Radiation shielding performance

Lead borate glass is the best radiation shielding glass when lead is in high concentration. However, it has low transparency after radiation exposure. Radiation decreases transparency due to chemical and physical changes in the glass matrix, such as creating or healing defects in the glass network. The addition of rare earth elements like cerium and dysprosium oxides to lead borate glasses can improve their transparency and durability as radiation shielding barriers. The newly manufactured glasses' optical absorption, structural, and radiation shielding properties were measured. The optical characteristics of the generated samples were examined to determine the effect of the cerium/dysprosium ratio on the structural alterations, specifically in the presence of bridging oxygen (BO) and non-bridging oxygen (NBO). Incorporating Ce3+ results in peaks at 195 nm for borate units, 225 nm for Ce3+, and a broadened peak at 393 nm due to overlapping peaks for Ce3+ and Ce4+ in the UV region. By adding Dy, multiple peaks are observed at 825, 902, 1095, 1275, and 1684 nm, corresponding to the transition from 6H15/2 ground state to 6F5/2, 6F7/2, 6F9/2, 6F11/2, and 6H11/2. The samples were also tested before and after exposure to gamma irradiation from a 60Co source at a dose of 75 kGy to assess their stability against radiation. The energy gap value during irradiation shows decreased non-bridging oxygen. The energy gap difference before and after irradiation for the M4 sample shows higher NBO to BO conversion, reducing radiation damage and improving structural stability. Furthermore, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was utilized to get insight into the coordination chemistry of the created glass samples. The half-value layer (HVL), radiation protection efficiency (RPE), neutron removal cross-section (FRNCS), mean free path (MFP), mass attenuation coefficients (MAC), and effective atomic numbers (Zef) of the glassy structure were calculated theoretically to assess its radiation shielding qualities. The linear attenuation coefficient order for the prepared samples was M1 > M2 > M3 > M4. The FRNCS values were 0.090, 0.083, 0.081, and 0.079 cm-1 for samples M1, M2, M3, and M4, respectively.

Ba2+-doping introduced piezoelectricity and efficient Ultrasound-Triggered bactericidal activity of brookite TiO2 nanorods

Exploring highly efficient ultrasound-triggered catalysts is pivotal for various areas. Herein, we presented that Ba2+ doped brookite TiO2 nanorod (TiO2: Ba) with polarization-induced charge separation is a candidate. The replacement of Ba2+ for Ti4+ not only induced significant lattice distortion to induce polarization but also created oxygen vacancy defects for facilitating the charge separation, leading to high-efficiency reactive oxygen species (ROS) evolution in the piezo-catalytic processes. Furthermore, the piezocatalytic ability to degrade dye wastewater demonstrates a rate constant of 0.172 min-1 and achieves a 100 % antibacterial rate at a low dose for eliminating E. coli. This study advances that doping can induce piezoelectricity and reveals that lattice distortion-induced polarization and vacancy defects engineering can improve ROS production, which might impact applications such as water disinfection and sonodynamic therapy.

Recent progress in defect-engineered metal oxides for photocatalytic environmental remediation

Rapid industrial advancement over the last few decades has led to an alarming increase in pollution levels in the ecosystem. Among the primary pollutants, harmful organic dyes and pharmaceutical drugs are directly released by industries into the water bodies which serves as a major cause of environmental deterioration. This warns of a severe need to find some sustainable strategies to overcome these increasing levels of water pollution and eliminate the pollutants before being exposed to the environment. Photocatalysis is a well-established strategy in the field of pollutant degradation and various metal oxides have been proven to exhibit excellent physicochemical properties which makes them a potential candidate for environmental remediation. Further, with the aim of rapid industrialization of photocatalytic pollutant degradation technology, constant efforts have been made to increase the photocatalytic activity of various metal oxides. One such strategy is the introduction of defects into the lattice of the parent catalyst through doping or vacancy which plays a major role in enhancing the catalytic activity and achieving excellent degradation rates. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of defects and their role in altering the photocatalytic activity of the material. Various defect-rich metal oxides like binary oxides, perovskite oxides, and spinel oxides have been summarized for their application in pollutant degradation. Finally, a summary of existing research, followed by the existing challenges along with the potential countermeasures has been provided to pave a path for the future studies and industrialization of this promising field.

Unveiling the Role of Sulfur Vacancies in Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of Hybrids Photocatalysts

Photocatalysis represents a sustainable strategy for addressing energy shortages and global warming. The main challenges in the photocatalytic process include limited light absorption, rapid recombination of photo-induced carriers, and poor surface catalytic activity for reactant molecules. Defect engineering in photocatalysts has been proven to be an efficient approach for improving solar-to-chemical energy conversion. Sulfur vacancies can adjust the electron structure, act as electron reservoirs, and provide abundant adsorption and activate sites, leading to enhanced photocatalytic activity. In this work, we aim to elucidate the role of sulfur vacancies in photocatalytic reactions and provide valuable insights for engineering high-efficiency photocatalysts with abundant sulfur vacancies in the future. First, we delve into the fundamental understanding of photocatalysis. Subsequently, various strategies for fabricating sulfur vacancies in photocatalysts are summarized, along with the corresponding characterization techniques. More importantly, the enhanced photocatalytic mechanism, focusing on three key factors, including electron structure, charge transfer, and the surface catalytic reaction, is discussed in detail. Finally, the future opportunities and challenges in sulfur vacancy engineering for photocatalysis are identified.

A Comprehensive Review on the Boosted Effects of Anion Vacancy in the Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Degradation, Part II: Focus on Oxygen Vacancy

Environmental problems, including the increasingly polluted water and the energy crisis, have led to a need to propose novel strategies/methodologies to contribute to sustainable progress and enhance human well-being. For these goals, heterogeneous semiconducting-based photocatalysis is introduced as a green, eco-friendly, cost-effective, and effective strategy. The introduction of anion vacancies in semiconductors has been well-known as an effective strategy for considerably enhancing the photocatalytic activity of such photocatalytic systems, giving them the advantages of promoting light harvesting, facilitating photogenerated electron-hole pair separation, optimizing the electronic structure, and enhancing the yield of reactive radicals. This Review will introduce the effects of anion vacancy-dominated photodegradation systems. Then, their mechanism will illustrate how an anion vacancy changes the photodegradation pathway to enhance the degradation efficiency toward pollutants and the overall photocatalytic performance. Specifically, the vacancy defect types and the methods of tailoring vacancies will be briefly illustrated, and this part of the Review will focus on the oxygen vacancy (OV) and its recent advances. The challenges and development issues for engineered vacancy defects in photocatalysts will also be discussed for practical applications and to provide a promising research direction. Finally, some prospects for this emerging field will be proposed and suggested. All permission numbers for adopted figures from the literature are summarized in a separate file for the Editor.

Fabrication of Z-Type TiN@(A,R)TiO2 Plasmonic Photocatalyst with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Plasmonic effect-enhanced Z-type heterojunction photocatalysts comprise a promising solution to the two fundamental problems of current TiO₂-based photocatalysis concerning low-charge carrier separation efficiency and low utilization of solar illumination. A plasmonic effect-enhanced TiN@anatase-TiO₂/rutile-TiO₂ Z-type heterojunction photocatalyst with the strong interface of the N-O chemical bond was synthesized by hydrothermal oxidation of TiN. The prepared photocatalyst shows desirable visible light absorption and good visible-light-photocatalytic activity. The enhancement in photocatalytic activities contribute to the plasma resonance effect of TiN, the N-O bond-connected charge transfer channel at the TiO₂/TiN heterointerface, and the synergistically Z-type charge transfer pathway between the anatase TiO₂ (A-TiO₂) and rutile TiO₂ (R-TiO₂). The optimization study shows that the catalyst with a weight ratio of A-TiO₂/R-TiO₂/TiN of approximately 15:1:1 achieved the best visible light photodegradation activity. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of fabricating plasmonic effect-enhanced Z-type heterostructure semiconductor photocatalysts with enhanced visible-light-photocatalytic activities.