Ag as Cocatalyst and Electron-Hole Medium in CeO2 QDs/Ag/Ag2Se Z-scheme Heterojunction Enhanced the Photo-Electrocatalytic Properties of the Photoelectrode

A recyclable photoelectrode with high degradation capability for organic pollutants is crucial for environmental protection and, in this work, a novel CeO2 quantum dot (QDs)/Ag2Se Z-scheme photoelectrode boasting increased visible light absorption and fast separation and transfer of photo-induced carriers is prepared and demonstrated. A higher voltage increases the photocurrent and 95.8% of tetracycline (TC) is degraded by 10% CeO2 QDs/Ag2Se in 75 minutes. The degradation rate is superior to that achieved by photocatalysis (92.3% of TC in 90 min) or electrocatalysis (27.7% of TC in 90 min). Oxygen vacancies on the CeO2 QDs advance the separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers at the interfacial region. Free radical capture tests demonstrate that •O2−, •OH, and h+ are the principal active substances and, by also considering the bandgaps of CeO2 QDs and Ag2Se, the photocatalytic mechanism of CeO2 QDs/Ag2Se abides by the Z-scheme rather than the traditional heterojunction scheme. A small amount of metallic Ag formed in the photocatalysis process can form a high-speed charge transfer nano channel, which can greatly inhibit the photogenerated carrier recombination, improve the photocatalytic performance, and help form a steady Z-scheme photocatalysis system. This study would lay a foundation for the design of a Z-scheme solar photocatalytic system.

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Insight into the Contributions of Surface Oxygen Vacancies on the Promoted Photocatalytic Property of Nanoceria

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano11051168 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 1168

Author(s):

Yuanpei Lan ◽

Xuewen Xia ◽

Junqi Li ◽

Xisong Mao ◽

Chaoyi Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Photocatalytic Activity ◽

Oxygen Vacancies ◽

Separation Efficiency ◽

Photocatalytic Property ◽

Pure Hydrogen ◽

Photogenerated Carrier ◽

Surface Oxygen ◽

Photoluminescence Spectra ◽

Electron Hole ◽

Insight Into

Oxygen vacancies (OVs) have critical effects on the photoelectric characterizations and photocatalytic activity of nanoceria, but the contributions of surface OVs on the promoted photocatalytic properties are not clear yet. In this work, we synthesized ceria nanopolyhedron (P-CeO2), ceria nanocube (C-CeO2) and ceria nanorod (R-CeO2), respectively, and annealed them at 600 °C in air, 30%, 60% or pure H2. After annealing, the surface OVs concentration of ceria elevates with the rising of H2 concentration. Photocatalytic activity of annealed ceria is promoted with the increasing of surface OVs, the methylene blue photodegradation ratio with pure hydrogen annealed of P-CeO2, C-CeO2 or R-CeO2 is 93.82%, 85.15% and 90.09%, respectively. Band gap of annealed ceria expands first and then tends to narrow slightly with the rising of surface OVs, while the valence band (VB) and conductive band (CB) of annealed ceria changed slightly. Both of photoluminescence spectra and photocurrent results indicate that the separation efficiency of photoinduced electron-hole pairs is significantly enhanced with the increasing of the surface OVs concentration. The notable weakened recombination of photogenerated carrier is suggested to attribute a momentous contribution on the enhanced photocatalytic activity of ceria which contains surface OVs.

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A High-Efficiency TiO2/ZnO Nano-Film with Surface Oxygen Vacancies for Dye Degradation

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma14123299 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (12) ◽

pp. 3299

Author(s):

Huizhong Ma ◽

Baofei Hao ◽

Wentao Song ◽

Jinpeng Guo ◽

Mingyuan Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oxygen Vacancies ◽

Photocatalytic Performance ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Dye Degradation ◽

Charge Carriers ◽

Surface Oxygen ◽

Electron Hole ◽

Surface Separation ◽

Green Approach ◽

Compositional Properties

Photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in water is a highly efficient and green approach. However, the low quantum efficiency is an intractable obstacle to lower the photocatalytic efficiency of photocatalysts. Herein, the TiO2/ZnO heterojunction thin films combined with surface oxygen vacancies (OVs) were prepared through magnetron sputtering, which was designed to drive rapid bulk and surface separation of charge carriers. The morphology and structural and compositional properties of films were investigated via different techniques such as SEM, XRD, XPS, Raman, AFM, and XPS. It has been found that by controlling the O2/Ar ratio, the surface morphology, thickness, chemical composition, and crystal structure can be regulated, ultimately enhancing the photocatalytic performance of the TiO2/ZnO heterostructures. In addition, the heterojunction thin film showed improved photocatalytic properties compared with the other nano-films when the outer TiO2 layer was prepared at an O2/Ar ratio of 10:35. It degraded 88.0% of Rhodamine B (RhB) in 90 min and 90.8% of RhB in 120 min. This was attributed to the heterojunction interface and surface OVs, which accelerated the separation of electron–hole (e–h) pairs.

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Remarkable Photocatalytic Behavior of WO3 /MoS2 Heterostructure: Insights From a Combined Experimental and Theoretical Investigations

10.21203/rs.3.rs-826094/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sulakshana Shenoy ◽

Kishore Sridha ◽

Kartick Tarafder

Keyword(s):

Photocatalytic Performance ◽

Theoretical Study ◽

Photogenerated Electron ◽

Blue Dye ◽

Internal Electric Field ◽

Electron Hole ◽

Photocatalytic System ◽

Theoretical Investigations ◽

Redox Ability ◽

Natural Photosynthesis

Abstract The Z-scheme heterogeneous photocatalytic system simulates the natural photosynthesis process and can overcome the shortcomings of the single-component photocatalyst, and possess many merits, including increased light-harvesting, spatially separated reductive and oxidative sites, and well-preserved strong redox ability, which benefits the photocatalytic performance. Here we report the fabrication of a novel WO3/MoS2 heterojunction via the hydrothermal method, with the structure, electronic and photocatalytic properties analyzed by means of experimental and theoretical methods. Photocatalytic studies have been conducted on methylene blue dye under visible light in the presence of WO3/MoS2 heterostructure, and the degradation rate was as high as 90% within 60 min of light irradiation. A detailed theoretical study of this system shows that an internal electric field at the interface of the heterojunction was formed directed from MoS2 to WO3, which helps to separate the photogenerated electron-hole pairs efficiently through a direct Z-scheme charge transfer process. This work also demonstrated the significant potential of WO3/MoS2 heterostructure towards hydrogen evolution reaction.

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Pre-Industrial Experience in Solar Photocatalytic Mineralization of Real Wastewaters. Application to Pesticide Container Recycling

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1999.0583 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 40 (4-5) ◽

pp. 123-130 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

S. Malato ◽

J. Blanco ◽

C. Richter ◽

B. Milow ◽

M. I. Maldonado

Keyword(s):

Organic Contaminants ◽

Toxic Waste ◽

Experimental Plant ◽

Electron Hole ◽

Particulate Suspensions ◽

Photocatalytic System ◽

Commercial Pesticide ◽

Pesticide Container ◽

By Products ◽

Hole Recombination

Particulate suspensions of TiO2 irradiated with natural solar tight in a large experimental plant catalyse the oxidation of organic contaminants. The problem in using TiO2 as a photocatalyst is electron/hole recombination. One strategy for inhibiting e−/h+ recombination is to add other (irreversible) electron acceptors to the reaction. In many highly toxic waste waters where degradation of organic pollutants is the major concern, the addition of an inorganic anion to enhance the organic degradation rate may be justified. For better results, these additives should fulfil the following criteria: dissociate into harmless by-products and lead to the formation of ·OH or other oxidising agents. In this paper, we attempt to demonstrate the optimum conditions for the treatment of commercial pesticide rinsates found in the wastewater produced by a pesticide container recycling plant. The experiments were performed in one of the pilot plants of the largest solar photocatalytic system in Europe, the Detoxification Plants of the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA), in Spain. After testing ten different commercial pesticides, results show that peroxydisulphate enhances the photocatalytic miniralization of all of them. This study is part of an extensive project focused on the design of a solar photocatalytic plant for decontamination of agricultural rinsates in Almería (Spain).

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Construction of Ag3PO4/SnO2 Heterojunction on Carbon Cloth with Enhanced Visible Light Photocatalytic Degradation

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app10093238 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 3238

Author(s):

Min Liu ◽

Guangxin Wang ◽

Panpan Xu ◽

Yanfeng Zhu ◽

Wuhui Li

Keyword(s):

Visible Light ◽

Photocatalytic Performance ◽

Separation Efficiency ◽

Photogenerated Electron ◽

Carbon Cloth ◽

Electron Hole ◽

Step Process ◽

Photogenerated Electrons ◽

Rapid Transfer ◽

Visible Light Photocatalytic

In this study, the Ag3PO4/SnO2 heterojunction on carbon cloth (Ag3PO4/SnO2/CC) was successfully fabricated via a facile two-step process. The results showed that the Ag3PO4/SnO2/CC heterojunction exhibited a remarkable photocatalytic performance for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB), under visible light irradiation. The calculated k values for the degradation of RhB and MB over Ag3PO4/SnO2/CC are 0.04716 min−1 and 0.04916 min−1, which are higher than those calculated for the reactions over Ag3PO4/SnO2, Ag3PO4/CC and SnO2/CC, respectively. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could mainly be attributed to the improved separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, after the formation of the Ag3PO4/SnO2/CC heterojunction. Moreover, carbon cloth with a large specific surface area and excellent conductivity was used as the substrate, which helped to increase the contact area of dye solution with photocatalysts and the rapid transfer of photogenerated electrons. Notably, when compared with the powder catalyst, the catalysts supported on carbon cloth are easier to quickly recycle from the pollutant solution, thereby reducing the probability of recontamination.

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Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Performance of SAPO-5-Based g-C3N4 Composite for Rhodamine B (RhB) Degradation

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma12233948 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (23) ◽

pp. 3948

Author(s):

Lingfang Qiu ◽

Zhiwei Zhou ◽

Mengfan Ma ◽

Ping Li ◽

Jinyong Lu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Photocatalytic Activity ◽

Visible Light ◽

Redox Reactions ◽

Photocatalytic Performance ◽

Dye Degradation ◽

Thermal Polymerization ◽

Light Illumination ◽

Electron Hole ◽

Visible Light Illumination ◽

Visible Light Photocatalytic

Novel visible-light responded aluminosilicophosphate-5 (SAPO-5)/g-C3N4 composite has been easily constructed by thermal polymerization for the mixture of SAPO-5, NH4Cl, and dicyandiamide. The photocatalytic activity of SAPO-5/g-C3N4 is evaluated by degrading RhB (30 mg/L) under visible light illumination (λ > 420 nm). The effects of SAPO-5 incorporation proportion and initial RhB concentration on the photocatalytic performance have been discussed in detail. The optimized SAPO-5/g-C3N4 composite shows promising degradation efficiency which is 40.6% higher than that of pure g-C3N4. The degradation rate improves from 0.007 min−1 to 0.022 min−1, which is a comparable photocatalytic performance compared with other g-C3N4-based heterojunctions for dye degradation. The migration of photo-induced electrons from g-C3N4 to the Al site of SAPO-5 should promote the photo-induced electron-hole pairs separation rate of g-C3N4 efficiently. Furthermore, the redox reactions for RhB degradation occur on the photo-induced holes in the g-C3N4 and Al sites in SAPO-5, respectively. This achievement not only improves the photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4 efficiently, but also broadens the application of SAPOs in the photocatalytic field.

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Preparation and Photocatalytic Performance for Degradation of Rhodamine B of AgPt/Bi4Ti3O12 Composites

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano10112206 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 2206

Author(s):

Gaoqian Yuan ◽

Gen Zhang ◽

Kezhuo Li ◽

Faliang Li ◽

Yunbo Cao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Visible Light ◽

Noble Metal ◽

Rhodamine B ◽

Photocatalytic Performance ◽

Bimetallic Nanoparticles ◽

Resonance Effect ◽

Visible Region ◽

Photogenerated Electron ◽

Pt Nanoparticles ◽

Electron Hole

Loading a noble metal on Bi4Ti3O12 could enable the formation of the Schottky barrier at the interface between the former and the latter, which causes electrons to be trapped and inhibits the recombination of photoelectrons and photoholes. In this paper, AgPt/Bi4Ti3O12 composite photocatalysts were prepared using the photoreduction method, and the effects of the type and content of noble metal on the photocatalytic performance of the catalysts were investigated. The photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) showed that the loading of AgPt bimetallic nanoparticles significantly improved the catalytic performance of Bi4Ti3O12. When 0.10 wt% noble metal was loaded, the degradation rate for RhB of Ag0.7Pt0.3/Bi4Ti3O12 was 0.027 min−1, which was respectively about 2, 1.7 and 3.7 times as that of Ag/Bi4Ti3O12, Pt/Bi3Ti4O12 and Bi4Ti3O12. The reasons may be attributed as follows: (i) the utilization of visible light was enhanced due to the surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag and Pt in the visible region; (ii) Ag nanoparticles mainly acted as electron acceptors to restrain the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs under visible light irradiation; and (iii) Pt nanoparticles acted as electron cocatalysts to further suppress the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The photocatalytic performance of Ag0.7Pt0.3/Bi4Ti3O12 was superior to that of Ag/Bi4Ti3O12 and Pt/Bi3Ti4O12 owing to the synergistic effect between Ag and Pt nanoparticles.

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