Vis and NIR Diffused Reflectance Study in Disordered Bismuth Manganate ‒ Lead Titanate Ceramics

This work shows a correlation between light reflectance, absorption, and morphologies of series of (1-x) BM–x PT, (x = 0.0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08, 0.12, 0.16, 0.24) ceramics composite. The (1-x) BM–x PT showed features of a black mirror with a low optical energy gap. The measured Vis-NIR diffused reflectance enabled the calculation of the energy gap using the modified Kubelka-Munk function. The estimated energy gap was lower than 1.5 eV related to low reflectance in the Vis-NIR range. Moreover, obtained histograms of grains, using scanning electron microscope, enabled the correlation between grains size and amount of lead titanate. We deduced from the ceramics surface morphology that marked porosity also induced reflectivity of low magnitude. We correlated the magnitude of the energy gap with phases of the BM-PT composite and with the electrical conductivity activation energy reported in the literature. Our results findings opened prospect studied materials for optical applications.

Self-Photoluminescence of Unzipped Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Unzipping of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been widely explored to obtain new nanocarbon structures with promising properties. In this work, we report that unzipping of CNTs according to the well-established modified Hummers method produces unzipped CNTs (uCNTs) that exhibit self-photoluminescence that depends on the diameter of pristine CNTs. The uCNTs were characterized using FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, XPS, and Raman spectroscopy indicating that unzipping is accompanied by the introduction of defects and oxygen-containing functional groups. The morphology of CNTs and uCNTs was determined by TEM showing longitude unzipping of CNTs. Our study shows that increasing the diameter of pristine CNTs results in decreasing the edge etching effect and decreasing the functionality of uCNTs. Based on the UV-Vis spectra, the band gap of uCNTs was calculated using the Kubelka–Munk function. The band gap of uCNTs increased with decreasing diameter of pristine CNTs. The uCNTs exhibited photoluminescence with a good emission in the visible light region. The uCNTs with the largest band gap and the highest oxygen content had the strongest fluorescence intensity. Moreover, different metal ions produced different degrees of fluorescence quenching for uCNT-15, which verified the self-photoluminescence of uCNTs.

ABO4 type scheelite phases in (Ca/Sr)MoO4 - BiVO4 - Bi2Mo3O12 systems: synthesis, structure and optical properties

The cation deficient complex oxides of (Ca/Sr)MoO4 - BiVO4 - Bi2Mo3O12 triple system are promising photocatalysts and pigments. Compounds with general formula of Ca1−1.5x-yBix+yФxMo1-yVyO4 and Sr1−1.5x-yBix+yФxMo1-yVyO4 were synthesized byconvention solid state technique in the range of 550–720 °C. Two wide regions of the solid solutions (ordinary and superstructured scheelite-type phases respectively) were found for each system. The diffuse scatering of homogeneous samples was investigated in the range of 190–1100 nm. Energy gaps calculated with linear approximation of Kubelka-Munk function decreases with bismuth and vanadium content.

A New Approach for the Fabrication of Tetragonal BaTiO3 Nanoparticles

For the first time, the BaTiO3 nano-sized particles were obtained through solid-state reaction by employing the titanium oxide nanoparticle. Meanwhile, by using TiO2 with micro-sized particles, the synthesized BaTiO3 shows the micro-sized. The XRD pattern confirms that both BaTiO3 nano-sized and micro-sized particles display the tetragonal structure. Both SEM and TEM analysis revealed that the size of the nano-sized material is in the range of 30–50 nm; in the meantime, the microsized material shows a size of 500 nm. The Eg of both BaTiO3 micro-sized and nano-sized were calculated by using the Kubelka-Munk function. The shifted bandgap of BaTiO3 nano-sized particle is nearly 0.24 eV larger than that of BaTiO3 miro-sized particle due to the particle size effect. The P-E measurement of n-BaTiO3 proved that the obtained BaTiO3 nano-sized is ferroelectric material. The result may provide a new route for the fabrication of barium titanate nanoparticle with ferroelectric properties.

Preparation of TiO2/WO3/C/N Composite Nanofibers by Electrospinning Using Precursors Soluble in Water and Their Photocatalytic Activity in Visible Light

Extending the absorption range of TiO2 nanofibers to visible light is a great improvement of the photocatalytic property of TiO2. In this study, TiO2/WO3/C/N nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning using precursors soluble in water then annealing in argon. Titanium(IV) bis(ammonium lactato)dihydroxide (TiBALDH) and ammonium metatungstate (AMT) were used as the precursor for TiO2 and WO3 respectively. Different volume ratios of the precursors were added to a solution of PVP before electrospinning. The fibers were studied by XPS, SEM-EDX, TEM, FTIR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy and UV–VIS diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue by the fibers in visible light was investigated. The fibers had anatase TiO2 and monoclinic WO3. Based on UV–VIS DRS and Kubelka-Munk function the fibers could absorb visible light. Moreover, 100% TiBALDH had an indirect band gap of 2.9 eV, and the band gap decreased with increase in AMT, i.e., for 0% TiBALDH, band gap was 2.4 eV. The fibers degraded methylene blue dye in visible light, and 90% TiBALDH had the highest photocatalytic activity, i.e., it degraded 40% of the dye after 240 min.

Efficient Removal of Nitrogen based Industrial Pollutants by Graphene Oxide Coupled Nanotitania Composite under Visible Light Illumination

N-based industrial pollutants like Nitrobenzene (NB) and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) were identified as hazardous among the group of industrial chemicals by United States environmental protection agency (USPEA). Their removal from the effluents has become inevitable for the industries as a part of wastewater treatment methodology. Thus, the selected organics have been successfully removed from their aqueous solutions with nanotitania (anatase) composites incorporated with an optimum wt% of graphene oxide (GO) through photocatalytic degradation. Kubelka-Munk function was applied for the composites in the UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectral (UV-Vis DRS) studies and the band gap has appreciably decreased with increase in wt % of GO in the composites. Compared to band gap in Degussa P25 (3.2 eV), the same was observed as 2.60 eV in the nanotitania composite with 10 % GO. These studies were correlated with Photoluminescence (PL) spectral analysis. The photodegradation and mineralization of Nitrogen containing industrial pollutants like nitrobenzene (NB) (95.7 % COD loss) and 4- nitrophenol (4-NP) (97.2 % COD loss) were successfully achieved with the nanocomposite under visible light irradiation.