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

• optical properties were studied by UV–vis absorption spectroscopy in the wavelength range from 200 to 800 nm using a HITACHI U3900 spectrophotometer with doubly distilled water as the reference medium. Photocatalytic measurements The photocatalytic performance of the ZnO nanostructures were evaluated by

Mesoporous MgTa₂O₆ thin films with enhanced photocatalytic activity: On the interplay between crystallinity and mesostructure

• Jin-Ming Wu,
• Igor Djerdj,
• Till von Graberg and
• Bernd M. Smarsly

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 123–133, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.13

• impact of the ordered mesoporous structure on the photocatalytic activity is reinforced by the significantly higher photocatalytic performance of the mesoporous MgTa2O6 film compared to the nonporous one (Figure 9). In addition, the KLE-templated mesoporous MgTa2O6 film exhibited higher photocatalytic

• enhanced ability to assist photodegradation of rhodamine B in water under UV irradiation. The optimal photocatalytic activity, when evaluated in terms of turnover frequency, was about four times that of previously reported anatase films with ordered mesopores [15] and even exceeded the photocatalytic

• performance of such films doped with other elements (see, e.g., [30] and references therein). In conclusion, our work represents a show-case study regarding the interplay of crystallinity/crystallite size and mesoscopic order. The combination of photocatalytical characterization with comprehensive