Chin Wei Lai

Recent developments of zinc oxide based photocatalyst in water treatment technology: A review.

Today, a major issue about water pollution is the residual dyes from different sources (e.g., textile industries, paper and pulp industries, dye and dye intermediates industries, pharmaceutical industries, tannery and craft bleaching industries, etc.), and a wide variety of persistent organic pollutants have been introduced into our natural water resources or wastewater treatment systems. In fact, it is highly toxic and hazardous to the living organism; thus, the removal of these organic contaminants prior to discharge into the environment is essential. Varieties of techniques have been employed to degrade those organic contaminants and advanced heterogeneous photocatalysis involving zinc oxide (ZnO) photocatalyst appears to be one of the most promising technology. In recent years, ZnO photocatalyst have attracted much attention due to their extraordinary characteristics. The high efficiency of ZnO photocatalyst in heterogeneous photocatalysis reaction requires a suitable architecture that minimizes electron loss during excitation state and maximizes photon absorption. In order to further improve the immigration of photo-induced charge carriers during excitation state, considerable effort has to be exerted to further improve the heterogeneous photocatalysis under UV/visible/solar illumination. Lately, interesting and unique features of metal doping or binary oxide photocatalyst system have gained much attention and became favourite research matter among various groups of scientists. It was noted that the properties of this metal doping or binary oxide photocatalyst system primarily depend on the nature of the preparation method and the role of optimum dopants content incorporated into the ZnO photocatalyst. Therefore, this paper presents a critical review of recent achievements in the modification of ZnO photocatalyst for organic contaminants degradation.

Tunable band gap energy of Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles using the coprecipitation technique

A simple coprecipitation technique was introduced to form manganese (Mn) doped on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles effectively. Based on our morphological studies, it was revealed that mean particle size was increased while bigger agglomeration of nanoparticles could be observed as the amount of concentration of Mn was increased. Interestingly, it was found that the position of the absorption spectra was shifted towards the lower wavelength (UV region) as correlated with the increasing of Mn dopants concentration into ZnO nanoparticles. This result inferred that optimum content of Mn doped into the ZnO nanoparticles was crucial in controlling the visible/UV-responsive of samples. In the present study, 3mol% of Mn dopants into the ZnO nanoparticles exhibited the better UV as well as visible light-responsive as compared to the other samples. The main reason might be attributed to the modification of electronic structure of ZnO nanoparticles via lattice doping of Mn ions into the lattice, whereas excessive Mn dopants doped on ZnO nanoparticles caused the strong UV-responsive due to the more 3d orbitals in the valence band.

Photoelectrochemical Performance of Smooth TiO2 Nanotube Arrays: Effect of Anodization Temperature and Cleaning Methods

The formation of self-organized titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotube arrays without bundling or clustering is essential for their high efficiency in photoelectrochemical (PEC) application. The present paper reports on the use of different temperatures to control the specific architecture of nanotube arrays and effective cleaning techniques to ensure the formation of clean TiO2 nanotube surface. The wall thickness of nanotube arrays could be controlled from 12.5 nm to 37.5 nm through different anodization temperature ranging from 10°C to 80°C. Furthermore, ultrasonic cleaning combined with acetone showed the high-ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays without morphological disorder, bundling, and microcrack problems. Based on the results obtained, a higher PEC response of 1 mA/cm2 and a photoconversion efficiency of 1.3% could be achieved using a wall thickness of 12.5 nm and defect-free TiO2 nanotube arrays for low charge transfer resistance.

Effect of applied potential on the formation of self-organized TiO 2 nanotube arrays and its photoelectrochemical response

Self-organized TiO2 nanotube arrays have been fabricated by anodization of Ti foil in an electrochemical bath consisting of 1 M of glycerol with 0.5wt% ofNH4F. The effects of applied potential on the resulting nanotubes were illustrated. Among all of the applied potentials, 30 V resulted in the highest uniformity and aspect ratio TiO2 nanotube arrays with the tubes length approximately 1 µm and pores size of 85 nm. TiO2 nanotube arrays were amorphous in as-anodized condition. The anatase phase was observed after annealing at 400°C in air atmosphere. The effect of crystallization and effective surface area of TiO2 nanotube arrays in connection with the photoelectrochemical response was reported. Photoelectrochemical response under illumination was enhanced by using the annealed TiO2 nanotube arrays which have larger effective surface area to promote more photoinduced electrons.

Advanced Chemical Reduction of Reduced Graphene Oxide and Its Photocatalytic Activity in Degrading Reactive Black 5

Textile industries consume large volumes of water for dye processing, leading to undesirable toxic dyes in water bodies. Dyestuffs are harmful to human health and aquatic life, and such illnesses as cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A, and hinder the photosynthetic activity of aquatic plants. To overcome this environmental problem, the advanced oxidation process is a promising technique to mineralize a wide range of dyes in water systems. In this work, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was prepared via an advanced chemical reduction route, and its photocatalytic activity was tested by photodegrading Reactive Black 5 (RB5) dye in aqueous solution. rGO was synthesized by dispersing the graphite oxide into the water to form a graphene oxide (GO) solution followed by the addition of hydrazine. Graphite oxide was prepared using a modified Hummers’ method by using potassium permanganate and concentrated sulphuric acid. The resulted rGO nanoparticles were characterized using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to further investigate their chemical properties. A characteristic peak of rGO-48 h (275 cm−1) was observed in the UV spectrum. Further, the appearance of a broad peak (002), centred at 2θ = 24.1°, in XRD showing that graphene oxide was reduced to rGO. Based on our results, it was found that the resulted rGO-48 h nanoparticles achieved 49% photodecolorization of RB5 under UV irradiation at pH 3 in 60 min. This was attributed to the high and efficient electron transport behaviors of rGO between aromatic regions of rGO and RB5 molecules.

Rapid formation of 1d titanate nanotubes using alkaline hydrothermal treatment and its photocatalytic performance

One-dimensional (1D) titanate nanotubes (TNT) were successfully synthesized using alkaline hydrothermal treatment of commercial TiO2 nanopowders in a Teflon lined stainless steel autoclave at 150°C. The minimum time required for the formation of the titanate nanotubes was 9 h significantly. After the hydrothermal processing, the layered titanate was washed with acid and water in order to control the amount of Na+ ions remaining in the sample solutions. In this study, the effect of different reaction durations in a range of 3 h to 24 h on the formation of nanotubes was carried out. As the reaction duration is extended, the changes in structure from particle to tubular shapes of alkaline treated TiO2 were obtained via scanning electron microscope (SEM). Also, the significant impact on the phase transformation and crystal structure of TNT was characterized through XRD and Raman analysis. Indeed, the photocatalytic activity of TNT was investigated through the degradation of methyl orange aqueous solution under the ultraviolet light irradiation. As a result, TNT with reaction duration at 6 h has a better photocatalytic performance than other samples which was correlated to the higher crystallinity of the samples as shown in XRD patterns.

An Overview: Recent Development of Titanium Oxide Nanotubes as Photocatalyst for Dye Degradation

Today, organic dyes are one of the largest groups of pollutants release into environment especially from textile industry. It is highly toxic and hazardous to the living organism; thus, the removal of these dyes prior to discharge into the environment is essential. Varieties of techniques have been employed to degrade organic dyes and heterogeneous photocatalysis involving titanium dioxide (TiO2) appears to be the most promising technology. In recent years, TiO2 nanotubes have attracted much attention due to their high surface area and extraordinary characteristics. This paper presents a critical review of recent achievements in the modification of TiO2 nanotubes for dye degradation. The photocatalytic activity on dye degradation can be further enhanced by doping with cationic or anionic dopant.

Multiwalled carbon nanotube/TiO2 nanocomposite as a highly active photocatalyst for photodegradation of Reactive Black 5 dye

A nanocomposite UV-visible light-responsive multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanophotocatalyst was successfully synthesized by a modified sol-gel method using titanium isopropoxide and functionalized MWCNTs as the starting precursors. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 and the nanohybrid material was investigated through the photodegradation of Reactive Black 5 dye under ultraviolet light irradiation. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that anatase phase was obtained for both the pure TiO2 and the MWCNT/TiO2 composite, while Raman spectroscopy confirmed the presence of MWCNTs in the composite. Field emission scanning electron microscopy revealed that TiO2 nanoparticles with an individual diameter of about 10–20 nm were coated on the surface of the MWCNTs. The specific surface areas of the samples were found to be 80 and 181 m2/g for the pure TiO2 and MWCNT/TiO2, respectively. As a result, MWCNT/TiO2 showed better photocatalytic performance than pure TiO2 because the high surface area of MWCNTs enabled them to function as good electron acceptors for the retardation of electron-hole pair recombination.

OPTIMIZED SPUTTERING POWER TO INCORPORATE WO3 INTO C–TiO2 NANOTUBES FOR HIGHLY VISIBLE PHOTORESPONSE PERFORMANCE

WO3-incorporated C–TiO2 nanotubes were successfully fabricated using radio frequency sputtering technique. The effects of sputtering powers on the nanotube morphology, crystal structure, optical properties and visible photoresponse were investigated. Lattice substitution of WO3 species within the lattice of C–TiO2 nanotubes has an important function in maximizing the photocurrent generation. WO3-incorporated C–TiO2 nanotubes exhibit good visible photoresponse compared with C–TiO2 nanotubes. The interpretation of interband states has an important function in improving photoinduced electron transport.

A Novel Solar Driven Photocatalyst: Well-Aligned Anodic WO 3 Nanotubes

Well-aligned anodic tungsten trioxide (WO3) nanotubes were successfully synthesized by anodization of W foil at 40 V in a bath with electrolyte composed of 1 M of sodium sulphate (Na2SO4) and 0.5 wt% ammonium fluoride (NH4F). The effect of electrochemical anodization times on the formation mechanism of anodic WO3 nanotubular structure was investigated. It was found that minimum of 15 min is required for completing transformation from W foil to WO3 nanotubular structure with an average diameter of 50 nm and length of 500 nm. The photocatalytic ability of the samples was evaluated by degradation of methyl blue (MB) dye. The results indicate that the surface morphology of anodic WO3 affected the photocatalytic MB degradation significantly under solar illumination.