• Advances in materials Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.65-75
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• 2013

Heterogeneous photocatalysis is a rapidly developing field in environmental engineering. It has a great potential to cope with the increasing pollution in the air. The addition of a photocatalyst to ordinary building materials such as tiles, concrete, paints, creates environmental friendly materials by which air pollution or pollution of the surface itself can be controlled and diminished. This work reports the results of the laboratory research, especially carried out towards air purifying action and self-cleaning measurements. In particular the research was focused on the study of the photocatalytic behavior of industrially prepared tiles produced starting from commercial micro-sized $TiO_2$. Air purification action has been investigated through NOx degradation tests. On the contrary, the degradation of pollution at the surface, also called as self-cleaning action, is verified by the degradation of two different organic dyes: Rhodamine B (red color) and Metanil yellow (yellow).

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.255-262
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• 2017

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be produced by interactions between sunlight and light-absorbing substances in natural water environments and can completely destroy various organic pollutants in waste water. In this study, we used graphene oxide modified $Ag_2Se$ nanoparticles to enhance photochemically generated oxygen (PGO) species activity. Surface area and pore volumes of the $Ag_2Se-graphene$ ($Ag_2Se-G$) samples showed catastrophic decrease due to deposition of $Ag_2Se$. The generation of reactive oxygen species was detected through the oxidation reaction of DPCI to DPCO. The photocurrent density and the PGO effect increase in the case of the use of modified graphene. The PGO effect of the graphene modified with $Ag_2Se$ composites increased significantly due to a synergetic effect between graphene and the $Ag_2Se$ nanoparticles. The photocatalytic activity of sample was evaluated by measuring the degradation of organic pollutants such as methylene blue (MB) and industrial dyes such as Texbrite BA-L (TBA) under visible light.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.607-611
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• 2020

In this research, we synthesized Au/TiO2/graphene composites using ionic surfactants for the exfoliation of graphite layers, directly. In the graphene composite, TiO2 with thin nanosheet shapes was distributed on the graphene surface and Au nanoparticles with less than 10 nm sizes were evenly distributed on the surface of the TiO2 nanosheets. The Au/TiO2/graphene composite was then applied to the photodegradation of various dyes such as methylene blue, methylene orange and rhodamine 6G, and B. Among them, the methylene blue showed the most excellent photodegradation activity (91.6%) while the rhodamine B exhibited 31.0%.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2015

The $BaCrO_4$ nanoparticles were synthesized from a 0.1 M $K_2CrO_4$ and 0.1 M $BaCO_3$ solution with stirring for 10 h. The product was washed several times with acetone and heated to $700^{\circ}C$ for 6 h. At that time, the color of mixture was a greenish yellow. The graphene/$BaCrO_4$ nanocomposites were prepared with graphene and $BaCrO_4$ nanoparticles by stirring in tetrahydrofuran and heated in an electric furnace at $700^{\circ}C$ for 2 h. The $BaCrO_4$ nanoparticles, graphene/$BaCrO_4$ and heated graphene/$BaCrO_4$ nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The graphene/$BaCrO_4$ nanocomposites and heated graphene/$BaCrO_4$ nanocomposites were evaluated as a photocatalyst and discussed about kinetics study for the degradation of organic dyes, such as methylene blue and rhodamine B under ultraviolet light irradiation at 254 nm.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.71-81
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• 1996

Direct Sky Blue-5B is an Azo dye known as general for staining of textile and leather, etc., and as materials which are difficult to be biodegraded in nature. The bacterium strain which could degrade direct Sky Blue-5B was isolated from activated sludge of dyeing factory and identified as Proteus sp. by experiment on morphological, cultural and biochemical characteristics, and so named Proteus sp. ST-1. The optimum condition of the strain for degradation of Sky Blue-5B were at about 35$^{\circ}C$ and PH 7~8. The strain had been capable of degradation with organic nitrogen effectively and had completely degraded 200mg/1 of the dye within 12hrs at 37$^{\circ}C$. The enzyme system related to degradation of Azo dye may be intracellular, and so degraded the dye after absorption into cell. The degradation products of Sky Blue-5B by Proton sp. 57-1 were analyzed by Gas Chromatography /Mass Spectrometry and Spectrophotomer, from this observation, it may be infered that the strain degraded the dye directly without any mediate.

• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.203-207
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• 2016

Here, we report a novel fabrication technique for patchable organic lasing sheet based on non-volatile liquid organic semiconductors and freestanding polymeric film with high flexibility and patchability. For this work, we have fabricated the second-order DFB grating structure, which leads to surface emission, embedded in the freestanding polymeric film. Using an ultra-violet (UV) curable polyurethaneacrylate (PUA) mixture, the periodic DFB grating structure can be easily prepared on the freestanding polymeric film via a simple UV curing process. Due to unsaturated acrylate remained in the PUA mixture after UV curing, the freestanding PUA film provides adhesive properties, which enable mounting of the patchable organic lasing sheet onto non-flat surfaces with conformal contact. To achieve laser actions in the freestanding resonator structure, a composite material of liquid 9-(2-ethylhexyl)carbazole (EHCz) and organic laser dyes was used as the laser medium. Since the degraded active materials can be easily refreshed by a simple injection of the liquid composite, such a non-volatile liquid organic semiconducting medium has degradation-free and recyclable characteristics in addition to other strong advantages including tunable optoelectronic responses, solvent-free processing, and ultimate mechanical flexibility and uniformity. Lasing properties of the patchable organic lasing sheet were also investigated after mounting onto non-flat surfaces, showing a mechanical tunability of laser emission under variable surface curvature. It is anticipated that these results will be applied to the development of various patchable optoelectronic applications for light-emitting displays, sensors and data communications.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.429-433
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• 2010

In this study, activated carbon (AC) as a carbon source was modified with different concentrations of cobalt chloride ($CoCl_2$) to prepare a Co-AC composite, and it was used for the preparation of Co-AC/$TiO_2$ composites with titanium oxysulfate (TOS) as the titanium precursor. The physicochemical properties of the prepared Co-AC/$TiO_2$ composites were characterized by $N_2$ adsorption at 77 K, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The photocatalytic treatments of organic dyes were examined under an irradiation of visible light with different irradiation times. $N_2$ adsorption data showed that the composites had decreased surface area compared with the pristine AC, which was $389\;m^2/g$. From the XRD results, the Co-AC/$TiO_2$ composites contained a mixturephase structuresof anatase and rutile, but a cobalt oxide phase was not detected in the XRD pattern. The EDX results of the Co-AC/$TiO_2$ composites confirmed the presence of various elements, namely, C, O, Ti, and Co. Subsequently, the decomposition of methylene orange (MO, $C_{14}H_{14}N_3NaO_3S$) and rhodamine B (Rh.B, $C_{28}H_{31}ClN_2O_3$) in an aqueous solution, respectively, showed the combined effects of an adsorption effect by AC and the photo degradation effect by $TiO_2$. Especially, the Co particles in the Co-AC/$TiO_2$ composites could enhance the photo degradation behaviors of $TiO_2$ under visible light.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.535-542
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• 2010

In this study, we used coal-based activated carbons and charcoal as startingmaterials, phenolic resin (PR) as a binder, and TOS as a titanium source to prepare $TiO_2$ combining spherical shaped activated carbon photocatalysts. The textural properties of the activated carbon photocatalysts (SACP) were characterized by specific surface area (BET), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), iodine adsorption, strength intensity, and pressure drop. The photocatalytic activities of the SACPs were characterized by degradation of the organic dyes Methylene Blue (MB), Methylene Orange (MO), and Rhodamine B (Rh. B) and a chemical oxygen demand (COD) experiment. The surface properties are shown by SEM. The XRD patterns of the composites showed that the SACP composite contained a typical single, clear anatase phase. The EDX spectro for the elemental indentification showed the presence of C and O with Ti peaks. According to the results, the spherical activated carbon photocatalysts sample of AOP prepared with activated carbon formed the best spherical shape, a high BET surface area, iodine adsorption capability and strength value, and the lowest pressure drop, and the photocatalytic activity was better than samples prepared with charcoal. We compared the degradation effects among three kinds of dyes. MB solution degraded with the SACP is better than any other dye solutions.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.206-211
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• 2010

Zinc oxide(ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized by reacting an aqueous-alcoholic zinc nitrate solution to sodium hydroxide under ultrasonic irradiation at room temperature. The fullerene($C_{60}$) and ZnO nanoparticles were heated individually in an electric furnace for two hours at $700^{\circ}C$. The morphology and optical properties of the $C_{60}$ and ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and ultraviolet/visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the heated and unheated the $C_{60}$ and ZnO nanoparticles for the decomposition of methylene blue(MB), methyl orange(MO) and rhodamine B(RhB) was examined using UV-vis spectroscopy.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.144-148
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• 2015

Cubic mesocrystal $CeO_2$ was synthesized via a hydrothermal method with glutamic acid ($C_5H_9NO_4$) as a template. The XRD pattern of a calcined sample shows the face-centered cubic fluorite structure of ceria. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern revealed that the submicron cubic mesocrystals were composed of many small crystals attached to each other with the same orientation. The UV-visible adsorption spectrum exhibited the red-shift phenomenon of mesocrystal $CeO_2$ compared to commercial $CeO_2$ particles; thus, the prepared materials show tremendous potential to degrade organic dyes under visible light illumination. With a concentration of a rhodamine B solution of 20 mg/L and a catalyst amount of 0.1 g/L, the reaction showed higher photocatalytic performance following irradiation with a xenon lamp (${\geq}380nm$). The decoloring rate can exceed 100% after 300 min.