Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles with Good Photocatalytic Activities under Stabilization of Bovine Serum Albumin

Zinc oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using bovine serum albumin as stabilizers through a facile one-pot strategy in aqueous media. The morphology and crystal phase of the zinc oxide nanoparticles were determined by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffractograms, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The synthesized ZnO nanoparticles exhibited strong absorption and photoluminescence properties in the visible wavelength region based on the fluorescence and UV-visible spectroscopy. Based on the results, the zinc oxide nanoparticles could effectively degrade the organic dyes through the mediation of the hydroxyl radical under visible light irradiation. Furthermore, the zinc oxide nanoparticles show good recycling stability during the photocatalytic experiments. These results suggested that the as-prepared zinc oxide nanoparticles might be used as a potential photocatalyst to efficiently treat the organic pollutants.

Fabrication and Photocatalytic Activity of Ag3PO4-TiO2 Heterostructural Nanotube Arrays

To extend the absorption capability of TiO_2 into visible light region and inhibit the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes,we put forward an effective strategy of the coupling of TiO_2 with a suitable semiconductor that possesses a narrow band gap.Meanwhile,Ag_3PO_4-TiO_2 heterostructuralnanotube arrays were prepared by the two-step anodic oxidation to obtain the TiO_2 nanotube arrays and then by a deposition-precipitation method to load Ag_3PO_4.The samples were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy（FESEM）,energy dispersive spectrometry（EDS）,X-ray diffraction（XRD）,and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy（UV-vis DRS）.The experimentalresults showed that Ag_3PO_4 nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on the highly ordered TiO_2 nanotube arrays,which increased the visible-light absorption of TiO_2 photocatalyst.The photocurrent density and photocatalytic degradation of methylorange indicated that the performance of Ag_3PO_4-TiO_2 heterostructuralnanotube arrays was better than that of the TiO_2 nanotube arrays,which could be attributed to the effective electron-hole separation and the improved utilization of visible light.

One-pot solvothermal synthesis of ZnTe/RGO nanocomposites and enhanced visible-light photocatalysis

Zinc telluride/reduced graphene oxide （ZnTe/RGO） nanocomposites are synthesized by a one-pot, facile, solvothermal process using hydrazine hydrate as the reducing agent. Hydrazine hydrate not only promoted the formation ofZnTe nanoparticles but also reduced GO to RGO. The formation of ZnTe/RGO is demonstrated by different techniques. In addition, the experimental results suggest a possible formation mechanism of these nanocomposites. Finally, due to the transfer of the photo-generated electrons between ZnTe and RGO resulting in low electrons/holes recombination, the as-prepared nanocomposites of ZnTe/RGO exhibited strongly enhanced photocatalytic activity for the bleaching of methyl blue （MB） dye under visible light irradiation.

Incorporation of carbazole and boron-containing dye into conjugated microporous polymers with significant aerobic oxidative photocatalysis

Carbazole-based conjugated microporous polymers(CMPs)as a new type of advanced porous material have created tremendous research curiosities in the area of photocatalysis.Besides,introducing boron-containing dyes into the CMPs framework was rare but will be rather promising due to their unique properties,including strong electron-accepting capability,efficient catalytic behaviour,significant absorption coefficient and high quantum.Herein,we rationally designed and prepared two new CMPs,i.e.Cz-BF_(2)-CMP and Cz-BPh2-CMP with the combination of carbazole and boron-containing dye as electron donor and acceptor motifs,respectively.Due to the efficient D-A effect between carbazole and boron-dye which not only accelerated the interfacial charge transfer efficiency but also improved the separation capability of photogenerated electron-hole pairs,both CMPs exhibited excellent photocatalytic performances in organic transformations such as green synthesis of benzimidazole in aqueous solution and aerobic oxidation of thioether in EtOH.

Photocatalytic degradation of aqueous Methyl Orange using nitrogen-doped TiO_2 photocatalyst prepared by novel method of ultraviolet-assisted thermal synthesis

A nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide composite photocatalyst（N–TiO2） with heterojunction structures is synthesized by three different approaches： a novel UV-assisted thermal synthesis, annealing, and microwave technique. Photocatalytic activities of synthesized photocatalysts are evaluated by the degradation of Methyl Orange under ultraviolet light types A（UV-A）, B（UV-B）, and C（UV-C）, visible light, and direct sunlight irradiation. Results show that by using N–TiO_2 photocatalyst prepared by the UV-assisted thermal synthesis and annealing, the degradation increases by 16.5% and 20.4%, respectively, compared to that by bare TiO2. The best results are obtained at a nitrogen to TiO2 mass ratio of 0.15（N：TiO2）. The enhancement of the photocatalytic activity observed in the visible range is mainly attributed to the increasing separation rate of photogenerated charge carriers. The novel UV-assisted thermal synthesis has produced encouraging results as a preparation method for the nitrogen-doped TiO2 photocatalyst; thus, further studies are recommended for process optimization, immobilization, and scale-up to evaluate its applicability in wastewater treatment.