CNTs tuning and vertical alignment in anodic aluminium oxide membrane

Anodic aluminium oxide （AAOM） membranes were used for template growth of carbon nanotubes （CNT） inside their pores by chemical vapour deposition （CVD） of different hydrocarbons, in the absence of transition metal catalyst. A composite material, containing one nanotube for each channel, having the same length as the membrane thickness and the external diameter close to the diameter of the membrane holes, was obtained. Yield, selectivity, and quality of CNTs in terms of diameter （up to very thin CNT）, carbon order, length, arrangement （i.e. number of tubes for each channel）, purity, that are critical requisites for several applications were optimised by investigating the effect of changing the hydrocarbon feedstock gas, also in the presence of hydrogen. The samples produced using methane as a feedstock have a well ordered structure. The role of the alumina channels surface during the CNT growth has been investigated and its catalytic activity has been proved for the first time.

Rare earth oxides in zirconium dioxide:How to turn a wide band gap metal oxide into a visible light active photocatalyst

In the present study, we investigated the effect of cerium and erbium doping of the zirconium dioxide matrix. We synthesized doped samples using hydrothermal process. The amounts of dopant used were 0.5%, 1% and 5% molar(rare earth oxide over zirconium dioxide) respectively. The samples have been studied via X-ray Diffraction measurements for the structural characterization. UV visible diffuse reflectance was used for the optical analysis, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET) model for the measurement of the surface area. Finally the samples have been analysed via electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR) for the electronic characterization. Then we tested the new synthetized materials to determine their photocatalytic activity in the reaction of degradation of methylene blue performed under irradiation by diodes(LEDs) emitting exclusively visible light.

Visible light driven mineralization of spiramycin over photostructured N-doped TiO2 on up conversion phosphors

A novel visible light-active photocatalyst formulation（NdT/OP） was obtained by supporting N-doped TiO2（NdT） particles on up-conversion luminescent organic phosphors（OP）. The photocatalytic activity of such catalysts was evaluated for the mineralization process of spiramycin in aqueous solution. The effect of NdT loading in the range 15–60 wt.% on bulk and surface characteristics of NdT/OP catalysts was investigated by several chemicophysical characterization techniques. The photocatalytic performance of NdT/OP catalysts in the removal of spyramicin from aqueous solution was assessed through photocatalytic tests under visible light irradiation. Total organic carbon（TOC） of aqueous solution,and CO and CO2 gas concentrations evolved during the photodegradation were analyzed. A dramatic enhancement of photocatalytic activity of the photostructured visible active NdT/OP catalysts,compared to NdT catalyst,was observed. Only CO2 was detected in gas-phase during visible light irradiation,proving that the photocatalytic process is effective in the mineralization of spiramycin,reaching very high values of TOC removal. The photocatalyst NdT/OP at 30 wt.% of NdT loading showed the highest photocatalytic activity（58%of TOC removed after 180 min irradiation against only 31% removal after 300 min of irradiation of NdT）. We attribute this enhanced activity to the high effectiveness in the utilization of visible light through improved light harvesting and exploiting. OP particles act as ＂photoactive support＂,able to be excited by the external visible light irradiation,and reissue luminescence of wavelength suitable to promote NdT photomineralization activity.