In-situ decoration of metallic Bi on BiOBr with exposed(110)facets and surface oxygen vacancy for enhanced solar light photocatalytic degradation of gaseous n-hexane

Photocatalytic degradation of gaseous pollutants on Bi-based semiconductors under solar lightirradiation has attracted significant attention.However,their application in gaseous straight-chainalkane purification is still rare.Here,a series of Bi/BiOBr composites were solvothermally synthe-sized and applied in solar-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of gaseous n-hexane.The charac-terization results revealed that both increasing number of functional groups of alcohol solvent(from methanol and ethylene glycol to glycerol)and solvothermal temperature(from 160 and 180to 200℃)facilitated the in-situ formation of metallic Bi nanospheres on BiOBr nanoplates withexposed(110)facets.Meanwhile,chemical bonding between Bi and BiOBr was observed on theseexposed facets that resulted in the formation of surface oxygen vacancy.Furthermore,the synergis-tic effect of optimum surface oxygen vacancy on exposed(110)facets led to a high visible light re-sponse,narrow band gap,great photocurrent,low recombination rate of the charge carriers,andstrong·O2-and h*formation,all of which resulted in the highest removal efficiency of 97.4%within120 min of 15 ppmv of n-hexane on Bi/BiOBr.Our findings efficiently broaden the application ofBi-based photocatalysis technology in the purification of gaseous straight-chain pollutants emittedby the petrochemical industry.

Atmospheric VOCs in an industrial coking facility and the surrounding area:Characteristics,spatial distribution and source apportionment

Industrial coking facilities are an important emission source for volatile organic compounds(VOCs).This study analyzed the atmospheric VOC characteristics within an industrial coking facility and its surrounding environment.Average concentrations of total VOCs(TVOCs)in the surrounding residential activity areas(R1 and R2),the coking facility(CF)and the control area(CA)were determined to be 138.5,47.8,550.0,and 15.0μg/m^(3),respectively.The cold drum process and coking and quenching areas within the coking facility were identified as the main polluting processes.The spatial variation in VOCs composition was analyzed,showing that VOCs in the coking facility and surrounding areas were mainly dominated by aromatic compounds such as BTX(benzene,toluene,and xylenes)and naphthalene,with concentrations being negatively correlated with the distance from the coking facility(p<0.01).The sources of VOCs in different functional areas across the monitoring area were analyzed,finding that coking emissions accounted for 73.5%,33.3% and 27.7% of TVOCs in CF,R1 and R2,respectively.These results demonstrated that coking emissions had a significant impact on VOC concentrations in the areas surrounding coking facility.This study evaluates the spatial variation in exposure to VOCs,providing important information for the influence of VOCs concentration posed by coking facility to surrounding residents and the development of strategies for VOC abatement.