Revealing the Role of Defect in 3D Graphene-Based Photocatalytic Composite for Efficient Elimination of Antibiotic and Heavy Metal Combined Pollution

Defect engineering can give birth to novel properties for adsorption and photocatalysis in the control of antibiotics and heavy metal combined pollution with photocatalytic composites.However,the role of defects and the process mechanism are complicated and indefinable.Herein,TiO_(2)/CN/3DC was fabricated and defects were introduced into the tripartite structure with separate O_(2)plasma treatment for the single component.We find that defect engineering can improve the photocatalytic activity,attributing to the increase of the contribution from h^(+)and OH.In contrast to TiO_(2)/CN/3DC with a photocatalytic tetracycline removal rate of 75.2%,the removal rate of TC with D-TiO_(2)/CN/3DC has increased to 88.5%.Moreover,the reactive sites of tetracycline can be increased by adsorbing on the defective composites.The defect construction on TiO_(2)shows the advantages in tetracycline degradation and Cu^(2+)adsorption,but also suffers significant inhibition for the tetracycline degradation in a tetracycline/Cu^(2+)combined system.In contrast,the defect construction on graphene can achieve the cooperative removal of tetracycline and Cu^(2+).These findings can provide new insights into water treatment strategies with defect engineering.

Preparation and characterization of ZrO_2/TiO_2 composite photocatalytic film by micro-arc oxidation

ZrO2/TiO2 composite photocatalytic film was produced on the pure titanium substrate using in-situ Zr（OH）4 colloidal particle by the micro-arc oxidation technique and characterized by scanning electron microscope （SEM）, energy dispersive X-ray （EDX）, X-ray diffraction （XRD） and ultraviolet-visible （UV-Vis） spectrophotometer. The composite film shows a lamellar and porous structure which consists of anatase, futile and ZrO2 phases. The optical absorption edge of film is shifted to longer wavelength when ZrO2 is introduced to TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic reaction rate constants of degradation of rhodamine B solution with ZrO2/TiO2 composite film and pure TiO2 film under ultraviolet irradiation are measured as 0.0442 and 0.0186 h 1, respectively.

Grain Size and Wettability of TiO_2/SiO_2 Photocatalytic Composite Thin Filing

The uniform transparent TiO2/SiO2 photocatalytic composite thin films are prepared by sol-gel method on the soda lime glass substrates, and characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), BET surface area, FTIR spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was found that the addition of SiO2 to TiO2 thin films can suppress the grain growth of TiO2 crystal, increase the hydroxyl content on the surface of TiO2 films, lower the contact angle for water on TiO, films and enhance the hydrophilic property of TiO2 films. The super-hydrophilic TiO2/SiO2 photocatalytic composite thin films with the contact angle of 0((o) under bar) are obtained by the addition of 10%-20% SiO2 in mole fraction.

Synthesis of BiVO_4-g-C_3N_4 Composite Photocatalyst with Improved Visible Light-induced Photocatalytic Activity

The novel visible light-induced carbon nitride（g-C3N4） and Bi VO4 composite photocatalysts were obtained through a simple mixing-calcination method. The physical and photophysical properties of the Bi VO4-g-C3N4 composites were investigated by X-ray diffraction（XRD）, Fourier transform infrared（FTIR） spectroscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy（HRTEM）, photoluminescent（PL） spectroscopy, and BET surface area measurements. Photocatalytic oxidation ability of the prepared samples was examined by studying the degradation of rhodamine B（Rh B） as a target pollutant under visible-light irradiation. The composite photocatalysts exhibited an enhanced photocatalytic performance in degrading Rh B. The optimal g-C3N4 content of the composite photocatalysts was determined for the photodegradation activity. The improved photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared composite photocatalyst may be attributed to the enhancement of photo-generated electron-hole separation at the interface.

Carbon nanotubes/TiO_2 nanotubes composite photocatalysts for efficient degradation of methyl orange dye

A series of carbon nanotubes/TiO2 nanotubes （CNTs/TNTs） composite photocatalysts were successfully prepared by incorporation of CNTs in HNO3 washing process. These photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, N2 physical adsorption, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, TEM and Raman spectroscopy, respectively, and their photocatalytic activities were tested by using methyl orange （MO） as a model compound. Also, the effects of amount of CNTs incorporated, calcination temperature and amount of catalyst on the photocatalytic activity of the composite photocatalyst were systematically investigated. The results show that the CNTs/TNTs composite exhibits much higher photocatalytic activity than that of the TNTs or CNTs alone.

Preparation of ZnO/GO composite material with highly photocatalytic performance via an improved two-step method

ZnO/graphene oxide（ZnO/GO） composite material,in which ZnO nanoparticles were densely coated on the GO nanosheets,was successfully prepared by an improved two-step method and characterized by IR, XRD,TEM,and UV-vis techniques.The improved photocatalytic property of the ZnO/GO composite material,evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange（MO） under UV irradiation,is ascribed to the intimate contact between ZnO and GO,the enhanced adsorption of MO,the quick electron transfer from excited ZnO particles to GO sheets and the activation of MO molecules viaπ-πinteraction between MO and GO.

Study on photocatalytic activity of MoS2/ZnO composite in visible light

A series of MoS_2/ZnO compound photocatalysts with different mass ratios were successfully prepared by hydrothermal method. The X-ray diffraction(XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), scanning electron microscope(SEM) and UV-vis absorption were used to characterize the prepared MoS_2/ZnO photocatalysts. It was proved that the combination of Mo S2 and Zn O can increase the content of oxygen vacancies on surface of Zn O, thus improving the light absorption capacity in visible light region and reducing the band gap of Zn O. And the photocatalytic performance of Zn O was improved. Experimental results show that the MoS_2/ZnO(3 wt%) compound has the highest degradation rate for methylene blue(MB) under visible light, which means that it has the best photocatalytic activity among all the prepared samples.

Solution-based processing of carbon nitride composite for boosted photocatalytic activities

Graphite-phase polymeric carbon nitride （CN） was reported to be a promising material in photoelectrochemical solar energy conversion. However, its high recombination rate of photogenerated carriers limits its potential applications. In this article, a heterojunction of CN and sulfur-doped CN （CNS） was constructed through a solution-based processing way. Interestingly, it was observed that the photocatalytic hydrogen production of the as-prepared composite was 32.6 times higher than that of bulk carbon nitride and 2.3 times higher than that of the composites by conventional impregnating method. This study opens a new avenue to construct heterojunction of CN for large-scale industrial applications in environmental remediation.

Selective oxidation of benzyl alcohols to benzoic acid catalyzed by eco-friendly cobalt thioporphyrazine catalyst supported on silica-coated magnetic nanospheres

A novel magnetically recoverable thioporphyrazine catalyst（CoPz（S-Bu）8/SiO2@Fe3O4） was prepared by immobilization of the cobalt octkis（butylthio） porphyrazine complex（CoPz（S-Bu）8） on silica-coated magnetic nanospheres（SiO2@Fe3O4）. The composite CoPz（S-Bu）8/SiO2@Fe3O4appeared to be an active catalyst in the oxidation of benzyl alcohol in aqueous solution using hydrogen peroxide（H2O2） as oxidant under Xe-lamp irradiation,with 36.4% conversion of benzyl alcohol, about 99% selectivity for benzoic acid and turnover number（TON） of 61.7 at ambient temperature. The biomimetic catalyst CoPz（S-Bu）8was supported on the magnetic carrier SiO2@Fe3O4 so as to suspend it in aqueous solution to react with substrates, utilizing its lipophilicity. Meanwhile the CoPz（S-Bu）8can use its unique advantages to control the selectivity of photocatalytic oxidation without the substrate being subjected to deep oxidation. The influence of various reaction parameters on the conversion rate of benzyl alcohol and selectivity of benzoic acid was investigated in detail. Moreover, photocatalytic oxidation of substituted benzyl alcohols was obtained with high conversion and excellent selectivity, specifically conversion close to 70%, selectivity close to 100% and TON of 113.6 for para-position electron-donating groups. The selectivity and eco-friendliness of the biomimetic photocatalyst give it great potential for practical applications.