ZnO nanoparticles sensitized by CuInZn_xS_2+x quantum dots as highly efficient solar light driven photocatalysts

• Florian Donat,
• Serge Corbel,
• Halima Alem,
• Steve Pontvianne,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1080–1093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.110

• range by the photocatalyst but also acts to decrease electron/hole recombination. Interestingly, the ZnO/ZCIS composite was found to produce increased amounts of H2O2 and singlet oxygen 1O2 compared to ZnO, suggesting that these reactive oxygen species play a key role in the photodegradation mechanism

• composites prepared for the photocatalytic degradation of pollutants require a relatively large quantity of CIS nanocrystals to be complete (20 wt % CIS QDs relative to ZnO) [34][37]. When the ZCIS/ZnO weight ratio was decreased to ≈7%, the photodegradation never exceeded 80% even using a light source

• continuous stirring. Using a radiometer, the light intensity was estimated to be 5 mW/cm2. At regular intervals, 2 mL sample aliquots were withdrawn from the reaction flask and centrifuged (15,000 rpm for 2 min) to remove the photocatalyst. The photodegradation progress was monitored by measuring the UV–vis

Synthesis of graphene–transition metal oxide hybrid nanoparticles and their application in various fields

• Arpita Jana,
• Elke Scheer and
• Sebastian Polarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 688–714, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.74

Investigation of the photocatalytic efficiency of tantalum alkoxy carboxylate-derived Ta₂O₅ nanoparticles in rhodamine B removal

• Subia Ambreen,
• Mohammad Danish,
• Narendra D. Pandey and
• Ashutosh Pandey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 604–613, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.65

• with the Scherrer equation, are in the range of 15–28 nm. The samples attained good crystallinity after calcination at 750 °C. SEM micrographs show that the synthesized samples are almost spherical and agglomerate to some extent. The photodegradation of rhodamine B by the semiconductor photocatalyst

Selective photodissociation of tailored molecular tags as a tool for quantum optics

• Ugur Sezer,
• Philipp Geyer,
• Moritz Kriegleder,
• Maxime Debiossac,
• Armin Shayeghi,
• Markus Arndt,
• Lukas Felix and
• Marcel Mayor

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 325–333, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.35

• of the target trimer 1 by NMR spectroscopy to be able to analyse the products of the photodegradation. Due to the poor solubility of the trimer 1, these studies were made with the monomeric building block 4, which allowed for suitable concentrations in dichloromethane-d2 for the NMR experiment. In a

• the 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenol (7) were observed during irradiation. Figure 2 displays the increase of the aldehyde proton (HA) at 10.35 ppm with increasing duration of the light exposure. The limited solubility of the trimer 1 prevented the investigation of its photodegradation by the same set-up

• solution spectra display the expected photodegradation of these model compounds in solution. Their optical properties and photoreaction pathways may, however, vary in high vacuum, where the stabilization of the intermediates by surrounding solvent molecules is no longer possible and bathochromic line

Photocatalysis applications of some hybrid polymeric composites incorporating TiO₂ nanoparticles and their combinations with SiO₂/Fe₂O₃

• Andreea Laura Chibac,
• Tinca Buruiana,
• Violeta Melinte and
• Emil C. Buruiana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 272–286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.30

• nanoparticles and hybrid polymeric composites with 10 wt % NPs (S1–S4) was realized through XRD, TEM and FTIR analyses. The mean size (10–30 nm) and the crystallinity of the NPs varied as a function of the inorganic constituent. The catalytic activity of these hybrid films was tested for the photodegradation of

• an amine function (dopamine). The photodegradation experiments for these model pollutants were performed under ambient conditions, under UV irradiation with low intensity (ca. 8 mW/cm2) to imitate the UV radiation from solar light, as well as under irradiation with visible light. The degradation

• collected during UV irradiation in the presence of S1 and S4 hybrid films. As can be observed, the absorption band of phenol underwent a gradual decrease because of its photodegradation without any change in the shape and position (after 250 min irradiation). Furthermore, for determining the phenol

Optical and photocatalytic properties of TiO₂ nanoplumes

• Viviana Scuderi,
• Massimo Zimbone,
• Maria Miritello,
• Giuseppe Nicotra,
• Giuliana Impellizzeri and
• Vittorio Privitera

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 190–195, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.20

• of the synthesized material and related them to the efficiency of UV photodegradation of methylene blue dye. The obtained results show that TiO2 nanoplumes act as an effective antireflective layer increasing the UV photocatalytic yield of the film. Keywords: black titania; nanostructures

• Ti films as an easy, rapid, and low-cost method to synthesize hydrogenated TiO2 nanoplumes with significant photocatalytic properties under UV and visible light irradiation. Here we report the optical properties of the TiO2 nanoplumes and their correlation with the efficiency of UV photodegradation

Organoclay hybrid materials as precursors of porous ZnO/silica-clay heterostructures for photocatalytic applications

• Marwa Akkari,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Abdessalem Ben Haj Amara and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1971–1982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.188

• observed in the MB photodegradation study, ZnO nanoparticles alone exhibit a higher activity compared to the activity of the heterostructures, reaching 84% of ibuprofen decomposition after 6 h of irradiation. This feature could be tentatively explained by admitting a more effective UV shielding in the

• M) of MB as a function of the UV irradiation time in presence of the heterostructures (experiments carried out at 17 °C): (A) ZnO/SiO2-CLO, (B) ZnO/SiO2-TSM and (C) ZnO/SiO2-SEP. “Photolysis” corresponds to photodegradation of MB in the absence of catalyst. “Photolysis” and ZnO(NP) data are the same

Surface-enhanced infrared absorption studies towards a new optical biosensor

• Lothar Leidner,
• Julia Stäb,
• Jennifer T. Adam and
• Günter Gauglitz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1736–1742, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.166

• without the use of labels. They lack the disadvantages of fluorescence technologies such as photodegradation, loss of bioactivity or costs of labeling. An early overview in the field of direct optical sensors, including optical principles and assay formats for selective detection, is given in [3] and

Role of RGO support and irradiation source on the photocatalytic activity of CdS–ZnO semiconductor nanostructures

• Suneel Kumar,
• Rahul Sharma,
• Vipul Sharma,
• Gurunarayanan Harith,
• Vaidyanathan Sivakumar and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1684–1697, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.161

• performance The photocatalytic performance of CdS–ZnO binary and CdS–ZnO–RGO ternary nanocomposites is evaluated by measuring the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO), as model dye, under visible light irradiation from a solar simulator or under natural sun light. Prior to illumination, the suspension was

An efficient recyclable magnetic material for the selective removal of organic pollutants

• Clément Monteil,
• Nathalie Bar,
• Agnès Bee and
• Didier Villemin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1447–1453, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.136

• hazard for human health, even at low concentrations [1][2][3]. Many technologies such as photodegradation, biodegradation, the Fenton process, or extraction by liquid membranes have been developed to eliminate these compounds in wastewater [4][5][6]. Among them, adsorption-based methods are extensively

High performance Ce-doped ZnO nanorods for sunlight-driven photocatalysis

• Bilel Chouchene,
• Tahar Ben Chaabane,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Kevin Mozet,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1338–1349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.125

• light irradiation. The possible mechanism of photodegradation is discussed. Finally, ZnO:Ce rods are highly stable, so that they can be reused up to five times without significant performance loss, which is a very attractive feature for practical photocatalytic applications. Results and Discussion

• ability of the Ce dopant to reduce charge recombinations is promising for the efficient photodegradation of pollutants. Photocatalytic degradation of Orange II We first investigated the photocatalytic activities of Ce-doped ZnO in comparison to ZnO rods in the photodegradation of Orange II used at a 10 mg

• (5%) catalyst and demonstrates that the photodegradation is complete (see also Figure 8c). The ln(C/C0) plots show a linear relationship with the irradiation time, indicating that the photodegradation of Orange II occurs via a pseudo-first-order kinetic reaction ln(C/C0) = −kt, where k is the

Impact of ultrasonic dispersion on the photocatalytic activity of titania aggregates

• Hoai Nga Le,
• Frank Babick,
• Klaus Kühn,
• Minh Tan Nguyen,
• Michael Stintz and
• Gianaurelio Cuniberti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2423–2430, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.250

• the insignificant enhancement of MB discoloration. Conclusion This study addressed the photocatalysis performance of suspended catalysts in an aggregated state. In particular, we examined to what degree the state of dispersion of aggregated TiO2 nanoparticles (P25) affects the photodegradation of

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering by colloidal CdSe nanocrystal submonolayers fabricated by the Langmuir–Blodgett technique

• Alexander G. Milekhin,
• Larisa L. Sveshnikova,
• Tatyana A. Duda,
• Ekaterina E. Rodyakina,
• Volodymyr M. Dzhagan,
• Ovidiu D. Gordan,
• Sergey L. Veber,
• Cameliu Himcinschi,
• Alexander V. Latyshev and
• Dietrich R. T. Zahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2388–2395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.245

• first can be attributed to scattering by surface optical modes, which was previously well-investigated in CdSe NCs [45][49][50]. The latter may originate from SERS by amorphous selenium formed on the NC surface due to partial photodegradation of CdSe NCs under laser illumination [51][52]. This mode has

High photocatalytic activity of V-doped SrTiO₃ porous nanofibers produced from a combined electrospinning and thermal diffusion process

• Panpan Jing,
• Wei Lan,
• Qing Su and
• Erqing Xie

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1281–1286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.132

• versatile, economic and simple approach to the preparation of 1D organic or inorganic nanomaterials [23][24]. This is followed by doping of V ions by a low temperature, thermal diffusion process. The photodegradation measurement indicates that V-doped, SrTiO3 porous nanofibers show an enhanced

Tm-doped TiO₂ and Tm₂Ti₂O₇ pyrochlore nanoparticles: enhancing the photocatalytic activity of rutile with a pyrochlore phase

• Desiré M. De los Santos,
• Javier Navas,
• Teresa Aguilar,
• Antonio Sánchez-Coronilla,
• Concha Fernández-Lorenzo,
• Rodrigo Alcántara,
• Jose Carlos Piñero,
• Ginesa Blanco and
• Joaquín Martín-Calleja

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 605–616, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.62

• obtained with a predominant rutile phase. The photodegradation of methylene blue showed that this pyrochlore phase enhanced the photocatalytic activity of the rutile phase. Keywords: nanoparticles; photocatalysis; pyrochlore; titanium dioxide; thulium; Introduction TiO2 is one of the most efficient

• the samples annealed at 1173 K. In turn, the influence of this pyrochlore phase on the photocatalytic activity of rutile-phase TiO2 was analyzed by a study of the photodegradation of methylene blue. Experimental The synthesis method was based on the hydrolysis reaction of titanium(IV) isopropoxide

• photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) was performed using a set of five actinic lamps emitting at around 360 nm. The initial concentration of the aqueous solution of MB (purity 82%, Panreac) was 1.56 · 10−5 M, and the concentration of the photocatalyst was 0.3 g·L−1. The photocatalyst/MB mixture was kept in

Poly(styrene)/oligo(fluorene)-intercalated fluoromica hybrids: synthesis, characterization and self-assembly

• Giuseppe Leone,
• Francesco Galeotti,
• William Porzio,
• Guido Scavia,
• Luisa Barba,
• Gianmichele Arrighetti,
• Giovanni Ricci,
• Chiara Botta and
• Umberto Giovanella

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2450–2458, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.254

• ]. PT15, selected as a representative sample, shows good chromatic stability when irradiated by a 100 mW/cm2 UV lamp at 365 nm (Figure 6b), compared to the flat film of neat TF (Figure 6a). The photodegradation of fluorene-based compounds leads to a reduction of PL intensity together with the appearance

Characterization and photocatalytic study of tantalum oxide nanoparticles prepared by the hydrolysis of tantalum oxo-ethoxide Ta₈(μ₃-O)₂(μ-O)₈(μ-OEt)₆(OEt)₁₄

• Subia Ambreen,
• N D Pandey,
• Peter Mayer and
• Ashutosh Pandey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1082–1090, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.121

• observed that Ta2O5 particles calcined at 750 °C possess best degradation efficiency (Figure 15). This may be due to increase in crystallinity and surface area with more active sites for photodegradation process when temperature is increased from 650 °C to 750 °C. A further increase in calcination

DFT study of binding and electron transfer from colorless aromatic pollutants to a TiO₂ nanocluster: Application to photocatalytic degradation under visible light irradiation

• Corneliu I. Oprea,
• Petre Panait and
• Mihai A. Gîrţu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1016–1030, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.115

• data as well as the key requirements for efficient photodegradation based on theoretical arguments. Computational details The structures of all pollutants were optimized in neutral as well as deprotonated forms, using DFT [31][32][33], with the B3LYP exchange–correlation functional [34][35] and the

Nanostructure sensitization of transition metal oxides for visible-light photocatalysis

• Hongjun Chen and
• Lianzhou Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 696–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.82

• potential applications of carbon nanodots [107][108][109][110], among the latter of which is their use as a photosensitizer for the visible-light photocatalysis. For example, TiO2/carbon nanodots demonstrate an efficient photodegradation of methyl blue under visible light [112]. The visible-light

• carbon nanodots can effectively harness the broad spectrum of sunlight to improve the photocatalytic activities of monoclinic bismuth vanadate (m-BiVO4) for the photodegradation of methylene blue [133]. The carbon nanodots play a twofold role in this photocatalytic process. Firstly, carbon nanodots

A visible-light-driven composite photocatalyst of TiO₂ nanotube arrays and graphene quantum dots

• Donald K. L. Chan,
• Po Ling Cheung and
• Jimmy C. Yu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 689–695, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.81

• ), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. The product exhibited high photocatalytic performance in the photodegradation of methylene blue and enhanced photocurrent under visible

• light irradiation. Keywords: anodic oxidation; graphene quantum dots; photocatalyst; photodegradation; TiO2 nanotube arrays; Introduction Semiconductor-mediated photocatalysis is a promising technique for the conversion of solar energy as well as degradation of organic pollutants in air and water [1

• ). Thermogravimetric analysis was performed in air using a thermogravimetric analyzer (Perkin Elmer, TGA 6). The samples were heated from 50 °C to 800 °C at a rate of 10 °C·min−1. Photocatalytic activity measurements: The photocatalytic activities of catalysts were evaluated by measuring the photodegradation of

Effects of the preparation method on the structure and the visible-light photocatalytic activity of Ag₂CrO₄

• Difa Xu,
• Shaowen Cao,
• Jinfeng Zhang,
• Bei Cheng and
• Jiaguo Yu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 658–666, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.77

• Ag2CrO4photocatalyst shows the best activity in the photodegradation of a MB aqueous solution, because of the higher adsorption of MB molecules, shorter diffusion process of more photogenerated excitons, and stronger oxidation ability of the photogenerated holes. The current investigation may provide new insight into

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of Ag–ZnO hybrid plasmonic nanostructures prepared by a facile wet chemical method

• Sini Kuriakose,
• Vandana Choudhary,
• Biswarup Satpati and
• Satyabrata Mohapatra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 639–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.75

• exposure, whereas all the Ag–ZnO hybrid plasmonic nanostructures led to enhanced photodegradation for the same exposure time. Among the various Ag–ZnO photocatalysts used, sample AZ510 exhibited the highest photocatalytic efficiency of 94% for the same exposure time of 20 min. Figure 9c shows the results

• can be clearly seen from that for the same citrate concentration, the photocatalytic efficiency increases with increasing Ag loading. Also, for the same Ag concentration, an increase in citrate concentration has been found to result in an increased efficiency of the photodegradation of MB. This

• +]/[citrate] ratio of 1: 10, as photocatalysts. Schematic band diagram of Ag–ZnO hybrid nanostructure showing the charge redistribution processes that lead to the photocatalytic degradation of MB dye. (a,b) Kinetics of MB photodegradation by Ag–ZnO hybrid plasmonic nanostructures with different Ag

Mesoporous cerium oxide nanospheres for the visible-light driven photocatalytic degradation of dyes

• Subas K. Muduli,
• Songling Wang,
• Shi Chen,
• Chin Fan Ng,
• Cheng Hon Alfred Huan,
• Tze Chien Sum and
• Han Sen Soo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 517–523, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.60

• the cerium oxide sample has been probed by the photodegradation of the suspected carcinogenic dye rhodamine B (RhB). A colloidal mixture of cerium oxide and RhB has been stirred and irradiated with AM 1.5 solar intensity light after equilibration in the dark for 30 min. A standard glass filter has

• is most pronounced in the presence of the hole scavenger, with impaired activity in the presence of both •OH and •OOH/•O2− scavengers. Interestingly, the electron scavenger does not significantly affect the photodegradation experiments. The participation of •OH radicals was confirmed with the use of

Structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of flower-like ZnO nanostructures prepared by a facile wet chemical method

• Sini Kuriakose,
• Neha Bhardwaj,
• Jaspal Singh,
• Biswarup Satpati and
• Satyabrata Mohapatra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 763–770, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.87

• UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. SEM and TEM studies revealed flower-like structures consisting of nanosheets, formed due to oriented attachment of ZnO nanoparticles. Flower-like ZnO structures showed enhanced photocatalytic activity towards sun-light driven photodegradation of methylene blue dye (MB

• dyeing industries. Since the sun is an abundantly available natural energy source, its light can be conveniently utilized for the photodegradation of organic dyes [3][4][5][6][7][8]. ZnO with a band gap of 3.37 eV has received much attention for the complete mineralization and degradation of

• did not result in any significant change in the absorption spectrum of MB. Figure 4d shows the extent of photodegradation of MB marked by the changes in C/C0 with irradiation time. Irradiation with sunlight for 20 min resulted in 92% degradation of MB when sample S1 was used, whereas by using sample

Modulation of defect-mediated energy transfer from ZnO nanoparticles for the photocatalytic degradation of bilirubin

• Tanujjal Bora,
• Karthik K. Lakshman,
• Soumik Sarkar,
• Abhinandan Makhal,
• Samim Sardar,
• Samir K. Pal and
• Joydeep Dutta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 714–725, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.81

• molecules on ZnO nanostructures, a resonant defect-mediated energy transfer from the photo-excited ZnO nanostructures to the BR molecules induces their photodegradation [15]. It was also demonstrated that the system can effectively degrade BR when it is bound to albumin. Although literature related to the