• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2008

Titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) is one of the most researched semiconductor oxides that has revolutionised technologies in the field of environmental purification and energy generation. It has found extensive applications in heterogenous photocatalysis for removing organic pollutants from air and water and also in hydrogen production from photocatalytic water-splitting. Its use is popular because of its low cost, low toxicity, high chemical and thermal stability. But one of the critical limitations of $TiO_2$ as photocatalyst is its poor response to visible light. Several attempts have been made to modify the surface and electronic structures of $TiO_2$ to enhance its activity in the visible light region such as noble metal deposition, metal ion loading, cationic and anionic doping and sensitisation. Most of the results improved photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation. This paper attempts to review and update some of the information on the $TiO_2$ photocatalytic technology and its accomplishment towards visible light region.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.374.2-374.2
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• 2016

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere are harmful materials which influence indoor air environment and human health. Titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) is photocatalyst extensively used in degradation of organic compound. To improve the photocatalytic activity in the visible light region, doping with non-metals element or loading noble metals on the surface of $TiO_2$ is generally proposed. In this study, N- doped $TiO_2$ having photocatalytic activity in visible light region was attached noble metal such as Pt, Ag, Pd, Au by coupling method. Catalytic activities of Noble metal coupled $N-TiO_2$ powders were evaluated by the improvement of their photocatalytic activities and the degradation of VOC gas. A UV-Vis spectrophotometer was used to measure the diffuse reflectance spectra of coupled $N-TiO_2$ sample. The photocatlytic activities of as prepared samples were characterized by the decoloration of aqueous MB solution under Xenon light source (UV and visible light). To measure of decomposition VOCs, ethylbenzene was selected for target VOC material and the concentration was monitored under UVLED irradiation in a closed chamber system. Adjusting the initial concentration of 10~12 ppm, to evaluate the removal characteristics by using the coupled $N-TiO_2$.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.200-204
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• 2011

Increase of surface area and decrease of band gap in $TiO_2$ semiconductors are significant to improve the efficiency of water splitting by photoelectrolysis. In this study $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays with ~7 um length and ~100 nm diameter were fabricated by an anodizing technique of titanium foils using DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide)-based electrolytes. Then to control the band gap of the $TiO_2$ arrays, they were annealed at $550^{\circ}C$ for up to 180 min in $NH_3$ gas ambient. The samples annealed in $NH_3$ gas for 30 min and 60 min showed superior photo-conversion efficiency for water splitting under white and visible light. A $TiO_2$ nanotube annealed in $NH_3$ gas ambient for a period longer than 120 min showed 1 order higher leakage current. It is believed that the decrease of band gap and increase of conductivity in $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays due to $NH_3$ gas treatments result in the superior water-splitting performance.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.521-529
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• 2016

In this study, titanium nanotubes, prepared by anodization method, showing high surface and strong chemical stability in acidic and basic media, have been employed for the application to the electrodes for water splitting in KOH solution. Due to its high polarization resistance of $TiO_2$ itself, proper catalysts are essentially required to reduce overpotentials for water oxidation and reduction. Most of academic literature showed noble metal catalysts for foreign dopants in $TiO_2$ electrodes. From commercialization point of view, screening of low-cost catalyst is important. Herein, we propose molybdenum oxide as low-cost catalysts among various catalysts tested in the experiments, which exhibits the highest performance for hydrogen evolution reaction in highly alkaline solution. We showed that molybdenum oxide doped electrode can be operated in extreme acidic and basic conditions as well.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.3981-3986
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• 2012

Anatase nanocrystalline and its tungsten-doped (0.4, 2, and 4 mol %) powders have been synthesized by microwave irradiation through hydrolysis of titanium tetra-isopropoxide (TIP) in aqueous solution. The materials are characterized by XRD, Raman, SEM-EDX, TEM, FT-IR and UV-vis techniques. The nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ particles are 30 nm in nature and doping of tungsten ion decreases their size. As seen in TEM images, the crystallites of W (4 mol %) doped $TiO_2$ are small with a size of about 10 nm. The photocatalytic activity was tested on the degradation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). Catalytic activities of W-doped and pure $TiO_2$ were also compared. The results show that the photocatalytic activity of the W-doped $TiO_2$ photocatalyst is much higher than that of pure $TiO_2$. Degradation decreases from 96 to 50%, during 115 min, when the initial 4-NP concentration increases from 10 to 120 ppm. Maximum degradation was obtained at 35 mg of photocatalyst.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.620-626
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• 2018

Highly self-cleaning thin films of $TiO_2-SiO_2$ co-doped with Ag and F are prepared by the sol-gel method. The asprepared thin films consist of bottom $SiO_2$ and top $TiO_2$ layers which are modified by doping with F, Ag and F-Ag elements. XRD analysis confirms that the prepared thin film is a crystalline anatase phase. UV-vis spectra show that the light absorption of $Ag-F-TiO_2/SiO_2$ thin films is tuned in the visible region. The self-cleaning properties of the prepared films are evaluated by a water contact angle measurement under UV light irradiation. The photocatalytic performances of the thin films are studied using methylene blue dye under both UV and visible light irradiation. The $Ag-F-TiO_2/SiO_2$ thin films exhibit higher photocatalytic activity under both UV and visible light compared with other samples of pure $TiO_2$, Ag-doped $TiO_2$, and F-doped $TiO_2$ films.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.274-278
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• 2012

$TiO_2$ can be used optically and is applied on many areas such as gas sensor, solar cell and photocatalysis. Electrospun nanofibers have received great interest for development and utilization in some novel applications, such as chemical sensors, dye-sensitized solar cell and photo catalysis. In this study, pure $TiO_2$ and Ga-doped $TiO_2$ nanofibers synthesized by a modified electrospinning method. The Ga doped $TiO_2$ solution is prepared by mixing poly vinyl pyrrolidone, ethyl alcohol, and titanium (IV) isopropoxide. By electrospinning these sols, nanofibers were fabricated. These fibers are heat-treated at $800^{\circ}C$ in air. The prepared pure $TiO_2$ and Ga-doped $TiO_2$ nanofibers samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy.

• Carbon letters
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• v.22
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• pp.48-59
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• 2017

This study synthesized pure anatase carbon doped $TiO_2$ photocatalysts supported on a stainless steel mesh using a sol-gel solution of 8% polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/dimethylformamide (DMF)/$TiCl_4$. The influence of the pyrolysis temperature and holding time on the morphological characteristics, particle sizes and surface area of the prepared catalyst was investigated. The prepared catalysts were characterized by several analytical methods: high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XRD patterns showed that the supported $TiO_2$ nanocrystals are typically anatase, polycrystalline and body-centered tetragonal in structure. The EDS and XPS results complemented one another and confirmed the presence of carbon species in or on the $TiO_2$ layer, and the XPS data suggested the substitution of titanium in $TiO_2$ by carbon. Instead of using calcination, PAN pyrolysis was used to control the carbon content, and the mesoporosity was tailored by the applied temperature. The supported $TiO_2$ nanocrystals prepared by pyrolysis at 300, 350, and $400^{\circ}C$ for 3 h on a stainless steel mesh were actual supported carbon doped $TiO_2$ nanocrystals. Thus, $PAN/DMF/TiCl_4$ offers a facile, robust sol-gel related route for preparing supported carbon doped $TiO_2$ nanocomposites.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.12 no.6 s.53
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• pp.399-405
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• 2005

Nanopowders of titanium dioxide $(TiO_2)$ incorporating the transition metal element(s) were synthesized by flame synthesis method. Single element among Fe(III), Cr(III), and Zn(II) was doped into the interior of $TiO_2$ crystal; bimetal doping of Fe and Zn was also made. The characteristics of transition-metal-doped $TiO_2$ nanopowders in the particle feature, crystallography and electronic structures were determined with various analytical tools. The chemical bond of Fe-O-Zn was confirmed to exist in the bimetal-doped $TiO_2$ nanopowders incorporating Fe-Zn. The transition element incorporated in the $TiO_2$ was attributed to affect both Ti 3d orbital and O 2p orbital by NEXAFS measurement. The bimetal-doped $TiO_2$ nanopowder showed light absorption over more wide wavelength range than the single-doped $TiO_2$ nanopowders.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.299-307
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• 2019

Photocatalysis is an environment friendly technique for degrading organic dyes in water. Tungsten oxide is becoming an active area of research in photocatalysis nanomaterials for having a smaller bandgap than the previously favored titanium dioxide. Synthesis of hierarchical structures, doping platinum (Pt), coupling with nanocomposites or other semiconductors are investigated as valid methods of improving the photocatalytic degradation efficiency. These impact the reaction by creating a redshift in the wavelength of light used, effecting charge transfer, and the formation/recombination of electron-hole pairs. Each of the methods mentioned above are investigated in terms of synthesis and photocatalytic efficiency, with the simplest being modification on the morphology of tungsten oxide, since it does not need synthesis of other materials, and the most efficient in photocatalytic degradation being complex coupling of metal oxides and carbon composites. The photocatalysis technology can be incorporated with water purification membrane by modularization process and applied to advanced water treatment system.