• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.35 no.9
• /
• pp.2813-2817
• /
• 2014

A new magnetic semiconductor material was synthesized to enable separation after a liquid-type photocatalysis process. Core@shell-structured $CuFeS_2@TiO_2$ magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by a combination of solvothermal and wet-impregnation methods for photocatalysis applications. The materials obtained were characterized using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible, photoluminescence spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area measurements, and cyclic voltammetry. This study confirmed that the light absorption of $CuFeS_2$ was shifted significantly to the visible wavelength compared to pure $TiO_2$. Moreover, the resulting hydrogen production from the photo-splitting methanol/water solution after 10 hours was more than 4 times on the core@shell structured $CuFeS_2@TiO_2$ nanocatalyst than on either pure $TiO_2$ or $CuFeS_2$.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.505-509
• /
• 2011

Visible light-activated photocatalysts (based on doped titania) are the subject of intensive current research due to the promise they offer in relation to solar powered systems for photocatalysis, hybrid systems for $CO_2$ conversion and hydrogen production from water. Current synthetic methodologies suffer from one or more serious shortcomings, which seriously hinder practical application. These include high cost, irreproducibility, difficulty in controlling the dopant level and unsuitability for scale up. In this review new reproducible and controllable methods (developed by Lambert group, Cambridge University) allowing the synthesis of practical quantities of efficient, visible light active anion (e.g. N, C and B) doped $TiO_2$ photocatalysts are summarized.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.85-92
• /
• 2008

In this present study, we have synthesized Fe-containing AC(activated carbon)/$TiO_2$ composites with titanium (VI) n-butoxide (TNB) as a titanium source to Fe treated AC through an impregnation method. The result of the textural surface properties demonstrates that there is a slight decrease in the BET surface area of composite samples with an increase of the amount of Fe treated. The surface properties of scanning electron microscope (SEM) presented a characterization of a porous texture on the Fe-containing AC/$TiO_2$ composites and homogenous compositions for Fe and titanium dioxide distributed on the sample surfaces. Fe compound peaks and a titanium dioxide structure were observed in the X-ray diffraction patterns for the Fe-containing AC/$TiO_2$ composites. The results of chemical elemental composition for the Fe-containing AC/$TiO_2$ composites showed that most of the spectra for these samples gave stronger peaks for C, O, treated Fe components and Ti metal than that of any other elements. From the photo degradation results for the piggery waste, the Fe-containing AC/$TiO_2$ composites showed an excellent degradation activity for the chemical oxygen demand (COD) due to a photocatalysis of the supported $TiO_2$, radical reaction by Fe species and the adsorptivity and absorptivity of porous carbon.

• Advances in environmental research
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.1-17
• /
• 2020

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) have become an environmental havoc in last few decades with reported cases of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs), lethal effects over aquatic organisms, interference in natural decomposition of organic matter, reduced diversity of microbial communities in different environmental compartments, inhibition of growth of microbes resulting in reduced rate of nutrient cycling, hormonal imbalance in exposed organisms etc. Owing to their potential towards bioaccumulation and persistent nature, these compounds have longer residence time and activity in environment. The conventional technologies of wastewater treatment have got poor efficiency towards removal/degradation of PhACs and therefore, modern techniques with efficient, cost-effective and environment-friendly operation need to be explored. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) like Photocatalysis, Fenton oxidation, Ozonation etc. are some of the promising, viable and sustainable options for degradation of PhACs. Although energy/chemical or both are essentially required for AOPs, these methods target complete degradation/mineralization of persistent pollutants resulting in no residual toxicity. Considering the high efficiency towards degradation, non-toxic nature, universal viability and acceptability, AOPs have become a promising option for effective treatment of chemicals with persistent nature.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.58-64
• /
• 2000

The photocatalytic removal of Ag(I) in water by $TiO_2$ at a various conditions, which are initial Ag(I) concentration, circulation flow rate, $TiO_2$ dosage and methanol concentration, was studied. A continuous flow system with a circular type reactor of the TiO2 suspensions with UV light through an photoreactor column was applied. The major results of this study were as follows; 1. First order kinetics was observed from the result at different initial concentration of Ag(I). As the initial Ag(I) concentration was incereased, the reaction rate was decreased. 2. The removal efficiency of Ag(I) increased with increasing the circulation flow rate and $TiO_2$ dosage. However, over $4{\ell}/min$ of circulation flow rate and $1.5g/{\ell}$ of $TiO_2$ dosage, increasing of the efficiency reached a plateau. 3. The addition of methanol as hole scavenger enhanced the removal efficiency of Ag(I) but the removal efficiency reached a plateau over some level of methanol. 4. It was found that $TiO_2$ photocatalysis was effective method to remove of Ag(I) from aqueous solution.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.1 no.3
• /
• pp.193-206
• /
• 2010

Organic fouling and biofouling pose a significant challenge to the membrane filtration process. Photocatalysis-membrane hybrid system is a novel idea for reducing these membranes fouling however, when $TiO_2 photocatalyst nanoparticles are used in suspension, catalyst recovery is not only imposes an extra step on the process but also significantly contributes to increased membrane resistance and reduced permeate flux. In this study, $TiO_2$ photocatalyst has been immobilized by coating on the microfiltration (MF) membrane surface to minimize organic and microbial fouling. Nano-sized $TiO_2$ was first synthesized by a sol-gel method. The synthesized $TiO_2$ was coated on a Poly Vinyl Difluoride (PVDF) membrane (MF) surface using spray coating and dip coating techniques to obtain hybrid functional composite membrane. The characteristics of the synthesized photocatalyst and a functional composite membrane were studied using numerous instruments in terms of physical, chemical and electrical properties. In comparison to the clean PVDF membrane, the $TiO_2$ coated MF membrane was found more effective in removing methylene blue (20%) and E-coli (99%).

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.45 no.3
• /
• pp.150-156
• /
• 2008

Pitch-binded activated carbon fiber(ACF)/$TiO_2$ composite photocatalysts were prepared by Carbon Tetra Chloride (CTC) solvent mixing method with different mixing ratios of anatase to ACF. The result of the textural surface properties demonstrated that there is a slight increase in the Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) surface area of composites with an increase of the amount of ACF. The surfaces structure morphologies of the composites were observed using an Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). In the XRD patterns for all ACF/$TiO_2$ composites, the diffraction peaks showed the formation of anatase crystallites. The EDX spectra showed the presence of C, O and Si with strong Ti peaks. Most of these samples were richer in carbon and major Ti metal than any other elements. From the photo-decomposition results, the excellent activity of the ACF/$TiO_2$ composites between c/$c_0$ for methylene blue and UV irradiation time could be attributed to both the effects of the photocatalysis of the supported $TiO_2$ and adsorptivity of activated carbon fiber and another carbon derived from pitch.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.405-408
• /
• 2012

$TiO_2$ particles with various shapes were synthesized by using a modified sol-gel method with binary ionic liquids. The structural properties of the particles were significantly affected by the composition of ionic liquids. This is mainly attributed to the interaction between the organic solvent and ionic liquid at the interface leading to the formation of particle structure. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared samples was also examined for the degradation of 4-chlorophenol. Among the particles, $TiO_2$ prepared with 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate and 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate showed the best photocatalytic performance.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.199-203
• /
• 2012

A modified sol-gel method and $N_2$-plasma treatment were used to prepare bulk and surface doped N-$TiO_2$, respectively. XRD, TEM, UV-vis spectroscopy, $N_2$ adsorption, Elemental Analyzer, Photoluminescence, and XP spectra were used to characterize the prepared $TiO_2$ samples. The N doping did not change the phase composition and particle sizes of $TiO_2$ samples, but increased the visible light absorption. The photocatalytic activities were tested in the degradation of an aqueous solution of a reactive dyestuff, methylene blue, under visible light. The photocatalytic activity of surface doped N-$TiO_2$ prepared by $N_2$-plasma was much higher than that of bulk doped N-$TiO_2$ prepared by sol-gel method. The possible mechanism for the photocatalysis was proposed.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.162-165
• /
• 2016

APhotocatalysis process uses ambient oxygen from air and irradiation, fundamentally UV light, to generate oxidation and reduction which can degrade almost all harmful organic and inorganic compounds to nontoxic substances. This study was focused on enhancement of photocatalytic activity which improves the photocatlytic efficiency with $TiO_2$ particle by mixing of certain amounts of Zn particles. We analyzed degradation of organic pollutant materials such as toluene and phenol with the mixed photocatalysis by using UV-visible spectrophotometer and obtained a result that photocatalytic activity is increased with increasing amount of Zn particle. Especially, in the case of $TiO_2$ (1 mmol) and Zn (0.1 mmol) mixture photocatalyst, we obtained at least 2 times higher photocatalytic activity compared with the commercially available $TiO_2$ photocatalyst (Degussa P-25), indicating that our mixed photocatalyts (Zn-doped $TiO_2$) is very effective of removing both organic dye and pollutants and the conversion rate of toluene is much faster than that of phenol.