Emerging strategies in the sustainable removal of antibiotics using semiconductor-based photocatalysts

• Yunus Ahmed,
• Keya Rani Dutta,
• Parul Akhtar,
• Md. Arif Hossen,
• Md. Jahangir Alam,
• Obaid A. Alharbi,
• Hamad AlMohamadi and
• Abdul Wahab Mohammad

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 264–285, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.21

• heterojunction interface matching, and limited carrier transfer routes [85]. Bi-based materials for the degradation of antibiotics include various compounds such as Sillén-type BiOX, scheelite structures (BiVO4, BiOIO3, Bi2O3, and Bi2S3), Aurivillius-type Bi2MO6 (M = Mo, Cr, and W), and other composites

• synthesized with metals and nonmetals or heterojunctions. Table 3 below provides comprehensive details and a concise overview of the latest research on bismuth-based photocatalysts used to eliminate antibiotics from wastewater. Bi2O3 is a widely utilized semiconductor in the fields of electronics and chemical

• engineering because of its uncomplicated composition, affordable price, and easy manufacturing process. Bi2O3 is widely recognised as a polycrystalline photocatalyst that exhibits four main phases. The majority of these phases are determined to be unstable, with α-Bi2O3 appearing at low temperatures and δ

Aero-ZnS prepared by physical vapor transport on three-dimensional networks of sacrificial ZnO microtetrapods

• Veaceslav Ursaki,
• Tudor Braniste,
• Victor Zalamai,
• Emil Rusu,
• Vladimir Ciobanu,
• Vadim Morari,
• Daniel Podgornii,
• Pier Carlo Ricci,
• Rainer Adelung and
• Ion Tiginyanu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 490–499, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.44

• metal oxides [1][9][10]. Metal oxides include TiO2, ZnO, Al2O3, WO3, Cu2O, CuO, SnO2, Fe2O3, Bi2O3, Ag3PO4, BiWO4, BiVO4, BiFeO3, and SeTiO3, while chalcogenides are represented by ZnS, ZnSe, CdS, PbS, CdSe, SnS2, and Bi2S3. Among porous semiconductor materials, recently developed super-lightweight ones

Bismuth-based nanostructured photocatalysts for the remediation of antibiotics and organic dyes

• Akeem Adeyemi Oladipo and
• Faisal Suleiman Mustafa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 291–321, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.26

• , Bi2O3, BiFeO3, Bi2WO6, Bi2Mo3O12, Bi2MoO6, and BiOI [24][25][39][40][41][42][43][44][45]) using a variety of techniques to tailor their size, morphology, and optoelectrical properties to improve their photocatalytic performance and to better understand the factors influencing their performance

Recent trends in Bi-based nanomaterials: challenges, fabrication, enhancement techniques, and environmental applications

• Vishal Dutta,
• Ankush Chauhan,
• Ritesh Verma,
• C. Gopalkrishnan and
• Van-Huy Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1316–1336, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.109

• environmentally beneficial alternatives [7]. The choice of the photocatalysts is one of the most important steps in attaining high performance in photocatalysis. Semiconductors with bandgaps greater than 3 eV are called wide-bandgap photocatalysts. These semiconductors include oxides (e.g., TiO2, Bi2O3, Bi2WO6

• and have adequate bandgaps and performance. Bi2MO6 (M = Mo, W), (BiO)2CO3, Bi2S3, BiOX (X = I, Br, Cl), BiPO4, BiVO4, Bi2O3, and other Bi-based nanomaterials have been designed and examined for photocatalysis. The vast majority of these compounds have a layered structure, which causes an internal

• -based semiconductors, especially oxide semiconductors such as Bi2O3, BiVO4, and Bi2WO6, have n-type properties with electrons as the majority carrier. Recent research suggests that the synthesis route can shift the conductivity types of Bi-based materials [45][51]. Fabrication routes Synthesis

Spindle-like MIL101(Fe) decorated with Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles for enhanced degradation of chlortetracycline under visible-light irradiation

• Chen-chen Hao,
• Fang-yan Chen,
• Kun Bian,
• Yu-bin Tang and
• Wei-long Shi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1038–1050, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.91

• China 10.3762/bjnano.13.91 Abstract Improving the photocatalytic performance of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is an important way to expand its potential applications. In this work, zero-dimensional (0D) Bi2O3 nanoparticles were anchored to the surface of tridimensional (3D) MIL101(Fe) by a facile

• solvothermal method to obtain a novel 0D/3D heterojunction Bi2O3/MIL101(Fe) (BOM). The morphology and optical properties of the as-prepared Bi2O3/MIL101(Fe) composite were characterized. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized samples was evaluated by degrading chlortetracycline (CTC) under visible

• -light irradiation. The obtained BOM-20 composite (20 wt % Bi2O3/MIL101(Fe)) exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity with CTC degradation efficiency of 88.2% within 120 min. The degradation rate constant of BOM-20 toward CTC is 0.01348 min−1, which is 5.9 and 4.3 times higher than that of pristine

Morphology-driven gas sensing by fabricated fractals: A review

• Vishal Kamathe and
• Rupali Nagar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1187–1208, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.88

• temperature of 260 °C, while Figure 21l and Figure 21m show the response towards 50 ppm of N2H4 at 260 °C. Other oxide-based fractals In 2020, Tran-Phu et al. demonstrated the formation of three-dimensional fractals of Au–Bi2O3, having D ≈ 1.80, on a substrate by hot-aerosol synthesis [45]. The fabricated Au

• –Bi2O3 porous fractal structures contained abundant active sites for the adsorption of carbon dioxide and other VOCs. An improvement of the electron density was attributed to gold nanoparticles. The resulting fractal structures showed excellent sensing properties towards VOCs (100 ppm at room temperature

• ). The samples were used in the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide and for an optical sensor based on LSPR. Figure 22a shows the Au–Bi2O3 fractal structures and the optical sensing of formate and toluene. Figure 22b and Figure 22c show SEM images of the sample on carbon fiber paper and a glass

Nanocasting synthesis of BiFeO₃ nanoparticles with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Thomas Cadenbach,
• Maria J. Benitez,
• A. Lucia Morales,
• Cesar Costa Vera,
• Luis Lascano,
• Francisco Quiroz,
• Alexis Debut and
• Karla Vizuete

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1822–1833, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.164

• particles tend to have lower bandgaps than larger particles [28][29][30]. The synthesis of pure single-phase BiFeO3 is very challenging, due to the volatile character of bismuth at temperatures higher than 400 °C, which leads to the formation of undesired phases such as α-Fe2O3, α- and β-Bi2O3 or Bi2Fe4O9

• ), ethanol, hydrochloric acid (HCl, 37%), and 2-methoxyethanol were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich and used without any further purification except for the last. We observed slightly better yields of BiFeO3 with no parasitic phases, such as Bi2O3, with freshly distilled 2-methoxyethanol dried over a molecular

• ]. However, significant amounts of impurities could be identified in the samples, which can be assigned to Bi2O3 (approx. 33%) and Bi2O2.7 (16.5%). It should be noted that the Bi/Fe carboxylate intermediates resulting from the mixing of the corresponding metal nitrate precursors and tartaric acid are mostly

BiOCl/TiO₂/diatomite composites with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B

• Minlin Ao,
• Kun Liu,
• Xuekun Tang,
• Zishun Li,
• Qian Peng and
• Jing Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1412–1422, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.139

• change to Bi2O3, and Bi2SiO5 and Bi2Ti2O7 will be formed (Figure 1b). At the same time, TiO2 will gradually change from anatase to rutile, resulting in significant degradation of photocatalytic properties [31]. We speculate that the existence of BiOCl leads to the change of the crystal transition

• the transformation of TiO2 and BiOCl at higher temperatures (e.g., TiO2 transforms from anatase to rutile, and BiOCl also transforms to Bi2O3 with the generation of Bi2SiO5 and Bi2Ti2O7). The corresponding kinetic curves are shown in Figure 7d,e,f. The degradation of RhB conforms to the pseudo-first

Construction of a 0D/1D composite based on Au nanoparticles/CuBi₂O₄ microrods for efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

• Weilong Shi,
• Mingyang Li,
• Hongji Ren,
• Feng Guo,
• Xiliu Huang,
• Yu Shi and
• Yubin Tang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1360–1367, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.134

• development of visible-light-driven photocatalysts is highly desirable because visible light accounts for about 43% of the solar spectrum. Currently, bismuth-based semiconductor materials, including Bi2O3 [4], BiVO4 [5][6], Bi2WO6 [7], Bi2MoO6 [8], BiOX (X = Cl, Br, I) [9], and Bi2O2CO3 [10], are explored as

Cr(VI) remediation from aqueous environment through modified-TiO₂-mediated photocatalytic reduction

• Rashmi Acharya,
• Brundabana Naik and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1448–1470, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.137

• represents an integer. Photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) by TiO2 modified with simple metal oxides: The coupling of TiO2 with simple metal oxides such as Bi2O3, WO3, or Cu2O is a promising strategy to design highly efficient photocatalysts [86][159][160]. The recombination of the photogenerated charge

• photocurrent. Dozzi et al. synthesized a series of titanium–tungsten mixed oxides through coupling of TiO2 with varying WO3 percentage by a base-catalyzed sol–gel method [175]. WO3 plays a vital role in inhibiting charge recombination for efficient charge transfer to enhance the Cr(VI) reduction. Bi2O3

• possesses a narrow band gap (2.8 eV), appropriate valence band position, and similar photocatalytic mechanism to that of TiO2. Hence, it can conveniently be coupled with TiO2 [176][177]. Yang and co-workers prepared Bi2O3/TiO2 coupled photocatalysts by a sol–gel method followed by a hydrothermal technique

Mechanistic insights into plasmonic photocatalysts in utilizing visible light

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Azrina Abd Aziz,
• Lan Ching Sim,
• Pichiah Saravanan,
• Min Jang and
• Detlef Bahnemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 628–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.59

• form, etc. Although many semiconductor metal oxides such as N-doped TiO2 [88], Fe2O3 [89], CdS [90] and Bi2O3 [91][92] have been reported, this section will mainly focus on TiO2, which is the most widely studied. Au or Ag nanoparticles can be employed to produce an outstanding plasmonic effect in the

Review: Electrostatically actuated nanobeam-based nanoelectromechanical switches – materials solutions and operational conditions

• Liga Jasulaneca,
• Jelena Kosmaca,
• Raimonds Meija,
• Jana Andzane and
• Donats Erts

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 271–300, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.29

Two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy generation and environmental remediation applications

• Suneel Kumar,
• Ashish Kumar,
• Ashish Bahuguna,
• Vipul Sharma and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1571–1600, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.159

• ]. Hence, in the recent decade, heterogeneous photocatalysis has been widely explored for the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy and for pollutant removal from water [11][12]. Up to now, various interesting semiconductors such as TiO2, ZnO, WO3, CdS, Bi2O3, Fe2O3, SnO2, BiVO4, etc. have been

Manufacturing and investigation of physical properties of polyacrylonitrile nanofibre composites with SiO₂, TiO₂ and Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles

• Tomasz Tański,
• Wiktor Matysiak and
• Barbara Hajduk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1141–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.106

• of a matrix of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and a reinforcing phase in the form of SiO2/TiO2/Bi2O3 nanoparticles, by electrospinning the solution. The effect of the nanoparticles and the electrospinning process parameters on the morphology and physical properties of the obtained composite nanofibres was

• development of materials from the group of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs), which are a combination of a polymer matrix with inorganic or hybrid nanoparticles. For the currently used types of inorganic fillers, inter alia, the following are included: SiO2 [1], metal oxides (TiO2, Al2O3, Bi2O3, Zn0, CaCO3) [2][3

• acid) (PLA), poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVBF), poly(vinylpyrrolidone) PVP, poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN)) reinforced with particles of SiO2, TiO2 and Bi2O3, particularly in thin layers, are very attractive because of

Shape-selected nanocrystals for in situ spectro-electrochemistry studies on structurally well defined surfaces under controlled electrolyte transport: A combined in situ ATR-FTIR/online DEMS investigation of CO electrooxidation on Pt

• Sylvain Brimaud,
• Zenonas Jusys and
• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 735–746, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.86

• dipping the working electrode 5 min into a 10−2 M GeO2 (Aldrich, 99.99% purity) containing 1 M NaOH solution. For determination of the (111) surface area, a similar process was employed using Bi deposition, where the working electrode was dipped for 5 min in saturated Bi2O3 (Aldrich, 99.99% purity) in 0.5

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

• solar light. Therefore, the development of visible-light-driven photocatalysts has received considerable attention as visible light (400–800 nm) is abundant in the solar spectrum [12][13][14][15][16]. Some semiconductors such as BiVO4 [17][18][19], Bi2O3 [20][21], Fe2O3 [22][23][24][25], and Cu2O [26

Junction formation of Cu₃BiS₃ investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy and surface photovoltage measurements

• Fredy Mesa,
• William Chamorro,
• William Vallejo,
• Robert Baier,
• Thomas Dittrich,
• Alexander Grimm,
• Martha C. Lux-Steiner and
• Sascha Sadewasser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 277–284, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.31

• about the chemical form in which oxygen is present can be inferred from the detail spectra shown in Figure 1b and Figure 1c. The as-prepared Cu3BiS3 sample shows clearly asymmetric peak shapes due to the presence of Bi2O3. It is also clear that the NH3 etch removes these oxide peaks to a large extent

• . This can be well seen by comparison of the difference spectra (blue line) with the expected range of the Bi2O3 peaks (gray boxes) [17]. The presence of an additional Bi2S3 phase cannot be completely excluded from the present measurements. However, the presence of elemental Bi can almost certainly be

• of the S 2p and Bi 4f peaks showing the presence of Bi2O3 in the as-prepared Cu3BiS3 layer and its removal by the NH3 etch. (c) Detailed spectrum of the Bi 5d and Na 2p peak showing the presence of Bi2O3 and Na and their effective removal by the NH3 etch. The blue spectra represent the difference