Photocatalytic Reaction of Sulfur Dioxide with Heptane in the Gas-phase Over Titanium Dioxide

The photocatalytic reaction of sulfur dioxide with heptane was carried out with the aid of UV illuminated titanium dioxide ultrafine particles(UFP) at room temperature. The TiO 2 UFP was prepared by means of colloidal chemical method. The structure and the surface state of the as prepared TiO 2 UFP via different heat treatments were studied. As the calcining temperature decreased, the contents of hydroxyl on the surface increased, which could help to enhance the photocatalytic activity of the TiO 2 UFP. The mechanism of the photocatalytic reaction of sulfur dioxide with heptane was proposed, in which there was a competition of photocatalytic oxidation between sulfur dioxide and heptane over the TiO 2 UFP. It is inferred that the reactive oxygen species play an important role in the photocatalytic reaction of sulfur dioxide with heptane.

Preparation and photocatalytic activity of TiO_2 nanoparticles co-doped with Fe and La

The catalysts of un-doped, single-doped and co-doped titanium dioxide （TiO2） nanoparticles were prepared by a sol-gel method with Ti（OC4H9 ）4 as a Ti source material. The photo-absorbance of the obtained nanoparticles was measured by UV-vis diffusive reflectance spectroscopy （UV-vis DRS）, and the photocatalytic activity of the prepared samples under UV and visible light was estimated by measuring the degradation rate of phenol （50 mg/L） in an aqueous solution. The effect of Fe and La co-dopants on the material properties was investigated by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm measurement. It was shown that the co-doped TiO2 could be activated by visible light and could thus be used as an effective catalyst in photo-oxidation reactions. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 co-doped with Fe and La is markedly improved due to the synergistic actions of the two dopants.

Synthesis and characterisation of potassium polytitanate for photocatalytic degradation of crystal violet

Potassium titanate nanostructures were synthesised by hydrothermal treatment of TiO2 （P25） in KOH and H2O2. As-produced powders were characterised by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption methods. Longitudinally-oriented-wire-like structures with a length up to several micrometres and diameters ranging from 10 to 30 nm were obtained. Larger size fibrous nanowires resulting from the hydrotherrnal treatment showed high affinity in adsorbing crystal violet （CV）, which was mainly due to their high surface area. The photocatalytic bleaching of CV solution revealed that the wires are photoactive under ultraviolet light irradiation. Macroporous nanowires are considered as effective adsorbents of CV, capable of photocatalvtic degradation, and they can be easily separated from the solution by settling.

Species,engineering and characterizations of defects in TiO2-basedphotocatalyst

Light absorption, charge separation and surface reaction are considered as the main processes ofphotocatalysis on one semiconductor, and all of them are demonstrated to be related to the defect statesof photocatalysts. This paper will choose Ti02 as model photocatalyst to introduce some basic conceptsand strategies related to defects and methods developed to characterize defects in the past decades.Meanwhile, such strategies as hydrogenation and metal/nonmetal doping intoTi02 will be introduced toextend utilization of solar spectrum and/or to provide active sites. On the contrary, the unfavorable effectof defects such as acting as recombination centers of photogenerated carriers will also be introduced.Some typical methods to characterize the properties of defects are summarized, which contain electronparamagnetic resonance （EPR）, photoluminescence technique （PL）, positron annihilation spectroscopy（PAS）, and so on. We do hope that this review will make a revealing effect on understanding to thefunctions of defects as well as construction of efficient photocatalytic systems in the future.

Fe-doped TiO_2/SiO_2 nanofibrous membranes with surface molecular imprinted modification for selective photodegradation of 4-nitrophenol

In this study, Fe-doped TiO2/SiO2 （Fe@TS） nanofibrous membranes with molecular imprinted modification, were fabricated by a combination of sol-gel process, electrospinning, calcination and liquid phase deposition techniques, The precursor sol was prepared from one-pot condensation of poly （vinylpyrrolidone）, ferric chloride hexahydrate, tetraethyl orthosilicate and titanium n-butoxide in the mixture solvents of N,N-dimethylformamide and ethyl alcohol. Fibrous membrane wasthen fabricated by electrospinning, followed by calcination to form the Fe@TS composite. The physicochemical properties of Fe@TS were characterized. Thereafter, 4-nitrophenol （4NP） was used as the template to deposit onto nanofibrous Fe@TS membranes, with a thin layer of molecular imprinted polymer in liquid phase. The photodegradation capabilities of 4NP and methyl orange wereexamined in both single and binary systems. The results demonstrated that molecular imprinted Fe@TS membranes exhibited excellent selectivity for photodegradation of 4NP.

Development of a field enhanced photocatalytic device for biocide of coliform bacteria

A field enhanced flow reactor using bias assisted photocatalysis was developed for bacterial disinfection in lab-synthesized and natural waters. The reactor provided complete inactivation of contaminated waters with flow rates of 50 mL/min. The device consisted of titanium dioxide nanotube arrays, with an externally applied bias of up to 6 V. Light intensity, applied voltage, background electrolytes and bacteria concentration were all found to impact the device performance. Complete inactivation of Escherichia coli W3110（- 8 × 10^3CFU/mL） occurred in 15 sec in the reactor irradiated at 25 mW/cm^2 with an applied voltage of 4 V in a 100 ppm NaCl solution. Real world testing was conducted using source water from Emigration Creek in Salt Lake City, Utah. Disinfection of natural creek water proved more challenging, providing complete bacterial inactivation after 25 sec at 6 V. A reduction in bactericidal efficacy was attributed to the presence of inorganic and organic species, as well as the increase in robustness of natural bacteria.