• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.707-712
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• 2010

Nitrogen-doped $TiO_2$ particles have been successfully prepared using titanium tetraisopropoxide as the Ti source and urea as the nitrogen source. As-prepared nitrogen-doped $TiO_2$ was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method (BET) and ultraviolet-visible light (UV-vis) absorption spectra techniques. Photocatalytic degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) has been carried out in both solar light (UV-vis) and the visible region (${\lambda}=420nm$). Nitrogen-doped $TiO_2$ exhibits higher activity than the commercial $TiO_2$ photocalyst, particularly under visible-light irradiation because bandgap of nitrogen-doped $TiO_2$ becomes remarkably decreased.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.2056-2062
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• 2013

The dihydroxy naphthalene/$TiO_2$ complexes with different substitution patterns were prepared by surface modification. X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the prepared composite materials. The results indicated that the surface modification did not influence the crystallization of $TiO_2$. The visible-light absorbances of prepared dihydroxy naphthalene/$TiO_2$ complexes could be assigned to the ligand-to-metal charge transfer. The obtained catalyst exhibited outstanding photocatalytic activity and stability under visible light. A linear relationship existed between the percentages of hydroxynaphthalenes coordinated on $TiO_2$ surface and $H_2$ production ability. The substitution pattern of dihydroxy naphthalene and $CH_3OH$ content could also influence the photocatalytic performance remarkably. The photocatalytic $H_2$ production ability was further improved after loading with ultra low concentration of Pt, 0.02 wt %. The possible mechanism was proposed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.1110-1116
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• 2014

The cuprous oxide cubes with the special porous surface constructed by nano-prisms have been successfully fabricated by a solvothermal method. The template-free method is simple and facile without any surfactant. The X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) pattern suggests that the as-prepared product is the pure primitive cubic $Cu_2O$. The effects of the experimental parameters, such as the reaction temperature, reaction time and the concentration of sodium acetate anhydrous, on the morphologies of the products were investigated in detail by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Based on the time-dependent experiments, the possible formation mechanism was proposed. Using photocatalytic degrading reactive dyes as the model reaction and xenon lamp to simulate sunlight, the $Cu_2O$ cubes with the porous surface might possess higher photocatalytic activity than those of the commercial $Cu_2O$ powder in the visible-light region, indicating the excellent photocatalytic performance.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.267-274
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• 2018

$TiO_2/CuS$ nanocomposites were fabricated by precipitation of nanosized CuS via sonochemical method on electrospun $TiO_2$ nanofibers, and their structure, chemical bonding states, optical properties, and photocatalytic activity were investigated. In the $TiO_2/CuS$ nanocomposite, the position of the conduction band for CuS was at a more negative than that of TiO; meanwhile, the position of the valence band for CuS was more positive than those for TiO, indicating a heterojunction structure belonging to type-II band alignment. Photocatalytic activity, measured by decomposition of methylene blue under visible-light irradiation (${\lambda}$ > 400 nm) for the $TiO_2/CuS$ nanocomposite, showed a value of 85.94% at 653 nm, which represented an improvement of 52% compared to that for single $TiO_2$ nanofiber (44.97% at 653 nm). Consequently, the photocatalyst with $TiO_2/CuS$ nanocomposite had excellent photocatalytic activity for methylene blue under visible-light irradiation, which could be explained by the formation of a heterojunction structure and improvement of the surface reaction by increase in surface area.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.135-141
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• 2012

To improve the visible-light induced photocatalytic application performances of $TiO_2$, in this study, the $NiS_2$ modied $TiO_2$ composites were prepared by two methods: hydrothermal method and sol-gel method. The composites were denoted as hs-$NiS_2$/$TiO_2$, and sg-$NiS_2$/$TiO_2$ and characterized by XRD, UV-vis absorbance spectra, SEM, TEM, EDX, and BET analysis. The photocatalytic activities under visible light were investigated by the degradation of methyl orange (MO). The photodegradation rate of methyl orange under visible light with $NiS_2$/$TiO_2$ composites was markedly higher than that of pure $TiO_2$, and the effect of hs-$NiS_2$/$TiO_2$ composites was better than that of sg-$NiS_2$/$TiO_2$. The results indicate that the hydrothermal process could partly inhibit the agglomeration of $NiS_2$/$TiO_2$. Thus, the dispersion of nanoparticles was improved, and that the promoting effect of $NiS_2$ could extend the light absorption spectrum toward the visible region.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1213-1222
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• 2020

In the current study, a Cu2O/TiO2 photoinduced nanocomposite materials prepared by ultrasonification method was evaluated the photocatalytic oxidation efficiency of volatile organic compounds (BTEX) under visible-light irradiation. The results of XRD confirmed the successful preparation of photoinduced nanocomposite materials. However, diffraction peaks belonging to TiO2 were not confirmed for the Cu2O/TiO2. The possible reason for the absence of Cu2O peak is their low content and small particle size. The result of uv-vis spectra exhibited that the fabricated Cu2O/TiO2 can be activated under visible light irradiation. The FE-SEM/EDS and TEM showed the formation of synthesized nanocomposites and componential analysis in the undoped TiO2 and Cu2O/TiO2. The photocatalytic oxidation efficiencies of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene with Cu2O/TiO2 were higher than undoped TiO2. According to light sources, the average oxidation efficiencies for BTEX by Cu2OT-0.5 were exhibited in the orer of 8 W day light > violet LEDs > white LEDs. However, the photocatalytic oxidation efficiencies normalized to supplied electric power were calculated to be in the following order of violet LEDs > white LEDs > 8 W day light, indicating that the LEDs could be a much more energy efficient light source for the photo-oxidation of gaseous BTEX using Cu2O/TiO2.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.415-426
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• 2022

Nickel substituted cobalt-zinc ferrite nanoparticles with composition Co_0.5Zn_0.5Ni_xFe_2-xO₄ (x = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0) were synthesized using a wet chemical method named citrate precursor method. Various characterizations of the prepared nanoferrites were done using X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV visible spectroscopy and Fourier transform spectroscopy technique (FT-IR). XRD confirmed the formation of cubic spinel structure of the samples with single phase having one characteristic peak at (311). The value of optical band gap (E_g) was found to decrease with Ni substitution and have values in the range 2.30eV to 1.69eV. A Fenton-type system was created by photocatalytic activity using source of visible light for removal of methylene blue dye. Observations revealed increase in the degradation of methylene blue dye with increasing nickel content in the samples. The degradation percentage was increased from 77.32% for x = 0.25 to 90.16% for x = 1.0 in one hour under the irradiation of visible light. Also, the degradation process was found to have pseudo first order kinetics model. Hence, it can be observed that synthesized nickel doped cobalt-zinc ferrites have good capability for water purification and its degradation efficiency enhanced with increase in nickel concentration.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.298-302
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• 2018

Photocatalytic properties of nitrogen doped titanium dioxide were investigated. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue under UV and visible light was carried out to characterize N-doped $TiO_2$. The result of XPS indicated that nitrogen atoms substitute for oxygen sites within the crystal structure of $TiO_2$. In the UV-Vis DRS spectra, N-doped amorphous $TiO_2$ absorbed UV light with little absorption of visible light, while the absorption of visible light of amorphous/anatase $TiO_2$ remarkably increased. Methylene blue photocatalytic degradation appeared by the irradiation of UV or visible light onto the N-doped anatase phase of $TiO_2$. However, the degradation rate of visible light was lower than that of UV light. The photocatalytic degradation rate of the amorphous/anatase $TiO_2$ sample was higher than that of the anatase $TiO_2$. These results indicate that the high surface area of amorphous/anatase $TiO_2$ sample, which was about three times larger than those of the anatase $TiO_2$ sample, may be related to small particles of N-doped anatase $TiO_2$.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.208-218
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• 2023

Photocatalysts are advanced materials which accelerate the photoreaction by providing ordinary reactions with other pathways. The catalysts have various advantages, such as low-cost, low operating temperature and pressure, and long-term use. They are applied to environmental and energy field, including the air and water purification, water splitting for hydrogen production, sterilization and self-cleaning surfaces. However, commercial photocatalysts only absorb ultraviolet light between 100 and 400 nm of wavelength which comprises only 5% in sunlight due to the wide band gap. In addition, rapid recombination of electron-hole pairs reduces the photocatalytic performance. Recently, studies on blackening photocatalysts by laser, thermal, and plasma treatments have been conducted to enhance the absorption of visible light and photocatalytic activity. The disordered structures could yield mid-gap states and vacancies could cause charge carrier trapping. Herein, liquid phase plasma (LPP) is adopted to synthesize Ag-doped black ZnO for the utilization of visible-light. The physical and chemical characteristics of the synthesized photocatalysts are analyzed by SEM/EDS, XRD, XPS and the optical properties of them are investigated using UV/Vis DRS and PL analyses. Lastly, the photocatalytic activity was evaluated using methylene blue as a pollutant.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.665-669
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• 2016

$TiO_2/BiVO_4$ layered films were prepared by sol-gel and spin coating methods. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Uv-vis spectroscopy were used to investigate the crystal structure, morphology and ultraviolet-visible absorption of the $TiO_2/BiVO_4$ films. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared films was inspected according to the degradation of methylene blue. The results show that the prepared films present a net chain structure; the absorption band edge had obvious red shift. The degradation of the methylene blue solution was about 80% after 300 mins using $TiO_2/BiVO_4$ layered films under visible light, which was stronger than when using only pure $TiO_2$ film and $BiVO_4$ film.