Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.3
3.9
Journals
Catalysts
Special Issues
New Trends in Photocatalytic Materials for Efficient Performance
share announcement

New Trends in Photocatalytic Materials for Efficient Performance

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Photocatalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 7949

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Faryal Idrees

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Interests: photocatalysis, dye-degradation, water splitting, energy storage and conversion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Faheem K. Butt

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Science and Technology, University of Education Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Interests: energy storage and conversion; photocatalysis; optoelectronic devices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Photocatalysis is a highly promising technique to address the challenges of energy and environmental aspects. It simultaneously covers the solar energy conversion and storage objectives by utilizing the solar energy into chemical energy. TiO2 is currently in commercial use, but due to its wide bandgap, it is limited to UV region which is 5% of total solar energy spectrum. Moreover, the fast recombination rates of photo-generated charge carriers have also limited its photocatalytic efficiency. In recent years sufficient efforts have been made to utilize semiconductor photocatalysts. Considering the limitation, several strategies have been proposed to tune the bandgap, increasing the surface kinetics, lowering the recombination rate, developing novel mechanism, etc., which are beneficial for optimizing the photocatalytic activity. This Special issue aims to cover recent progress and challenges in designing/engineering, synthesis, characterization and establishing advanced/efficient photocatalytic systems which will be addressed in this special issue of Catalysts through several examples.

Dr. Faryal Idrees
Dr. Faheem K. Butt
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • water splitting
  • H2 Production
  • NOx degradation
  • dye degradation
  • Z-Scheme
  • Type-II scheme
  • solar light
  • laser photolysis
  • heterostructures
  • computation

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 4797 KiB  
Article
Reduced Graphene Oxide–Metal Oxide Nanocomposites (ZrO2 and Y2O3): Fabrication and Characterization for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Picric Acid
by Balasubramanian Usharani, Govindhasamy Murugadoss, Manavalan Rajesh Kumar, Shaik Gouse Peera and Varadharajan Manivannan
Catalysts 2022, 12(10), 1249; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12101249 - 16 Oct 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1744
Abstract
Herein, reduced graphene-oxide-supported ZrO2 and Y2O3 (rGO-ZrO2 and rGO-Y2O3) nanocomposites were synthesized by hydrothermal method and used as the catalysts for photodegradation of picric acid. The structural and morphological properties of the synthesized samples [...] Read more.
Herein, reduced graphene-oxide-supported ZrO2 and Y2O3 (rGO-ZrO2 and rGO-Y2O3) nanocomposites were synthesized by hydrothermal method and used as the catalysts for photodegradation of picric acid. The structural and morphological properties of the synthesized samples were characterized by using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive absorption X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), UV-Vis spectrophotometer, Raman spectrophotometer and Fourier transformation infrared spectrophotometer (FT-IR) techniques. In this work, the wide band gap of the ZrO2 and Y2O3 was successfully reduced by addition of the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to absorb visible light for photocatalytic application. The performance of as synthesized rGO-ZrO2 and rGO-Y2O3 nanocomposites in the photocatalytic degradation of picric acid were evaluated under UV light irradiation. The photodegradation study using picric acid was analyzed with different energy light sources UV (254, 365 and 395 nm), visible light and sunlight at different pH conditions (pH = 3, 7 and 10). The photocatalytic activity of rGO-ZrO2 and rGO-Y2O3 nanocomposites showed excellent photocatalytic activity under optimum identical conditions with mild variations in pH 3. Compared to rGO-Y2O3, the rGO-ZrO2 nanocomposite showed a better action, with a degradation percentage rate of 100, 99.3, 99.9, 100 and 100% for light conditions of UV-252, 365, 395, visible and sunlight, respectively. The excellent degradation efficiency is attributed to factors such as oxygen-deficient metal oxide phase, high surface area and creation of a greater number of hydroxyl groups. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Photocatalytic Materials for Efficient Performance)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 4195 KiB  
Article
Facile Preparation of Highly Active CO2 Reduction (001)TiO2/Ti3C2Tx Photocatalyst from Ti3AlC2 with Less Fluorine
by Jibai Li, Kaining Li, Qiuyan Tan, Qin Li, Jiajie Fan, Chao Wu and Kangle Lv
Catalysts 2022, 12(7), 785; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12070785 - 18 Jul 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3033
Abstract
To date, (001)TiO2/Ti3C2Tx hybridized photocatalyst is usually prepared through the complicated treatment of Ti3AlC2 in the presence of corrosive fluorine with a molar ratio of nF:nTi of more than 20. To reduce the [...] Read more.
To date, (001)TiO2/Ti3C2Tx hybridized photocatalyst is usually prepared through the complicated treatment of Ti3AlC2 in the presence of corrosive fluorine with a molar ratio of nF:nTi of more than 20. To reduce the use of corrosive fluorine, herein, exploiting beyond the conventional method, we report a facile synthetic method for (001)TiO2/Ti3C2Tx, elaborately using HF as both an etchant for Al elimination and a morphology control agent for the growth of (001)TiO2 nanosheets, with a sharply diminished use of fluorine (nF:nTi = 4:1) and simplified operation procedures. After optimization, the resulting (001)TiO2/Ti3C2Tx heterojunction exhibited markedly high photocatalytic activity with the CO2 reduction rate of 13.45 μmol g−1 h−1, which even surpasses that of P25 (10.95 μmol g−1 h−1), while the photoelectron selectivity to CH4 is approaching 92.84%. The superior photoactivity is interpreted as the fact that Ti3C2Tx with a lower work function induces photoinduced hole transfer and suppresses the charge recombination, thus facilitating the CO2 multi-electron reduction. This study provides a novel and simple synthesis for (001)TiO2/Ti3C2Tx towards sustainable energy transformations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Photocatalytic Materials for Efficient Performance)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

17 pages, 4050 KiB  
Article
A Kinetic Study of Photocatalytic Degradation of Phenol over Titania–Silica Mixed Oxide Materials under UV Illumination
by Shivatharsiny Yohi, Chia-Ming Wu and Ranjit T. Koodali
Catalysts 2022, 12(2), 193; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12020193 - 04 Feb 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2570
Abstract
A set of titania–silica mixed oxide materials were prepared by a cosolvent-induced gelation method using ethanol and toluene as solvent and cosolvent, respectively. These materials were extensively characterized by utilizing several characterization techniques and assessed for phenol degradation under UV illumination. The degradation [...] Read more.
A set of titania–silica mixed oxide materials were prepared by a cosolvent-induced gelation method using ethanol and toluene as solvent and cosolvent, respectively. These materials were extensively characterized by utilizing several characterization techniques and assessed for phenol degradation under UV illumination. The degradation of phenol follows first-order kinetics, and fragmented products formed during the phenol degradation were qualitatively identified by using high performance liquid Chromatographic (HPLC) and atomic pressure chemical ionization mass spectroscopic (APCI-MS) techniques. The complete mineralization of phenol was further evidenced by the measurement of the total organic contents that remained in the solution after irradiation. The pore diameter of the materials was found to be the key factor for phenol degradation, whereas surface area and pore volume play a role among the mixed oxide materials. In addition, in the mixed oxide system there was an inverse correlation obtained with the particle size of the materials and the degradation efficiency. The smaller particle size of titania in the mixed oxide material was found to be a requirement for an effective degradation of phenol. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Photocatalytic Materials for Efficient Performance)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop