Jianqiang Yu

Photoelectrochemical water splitting under visible light over anti-photocorrosive In2O3-coupling ZnO nanorod arrays photoanode

In2O3 quantum dots with a high crystallinity were deposited on the surface of ZnO nanorods through a chemistry bath method. The resulting In2O3-sensitizing ZnO nanorod arrays not only exhibited enhanced photoelectrochemical activity for water splitting under visible-light irradiation, but also possessed anti-photocorrosion property. The photo-induced charge-transfer property of In2O3 could be improved greatly by coupling with ZnO. This observation demonstrated that the heterojunction at the interface between In2O3 and ZnO could efficiently reduce the recombination of photo-induced electron–hole pairs and increase the lifetime of charge carriers and therefore enhance the photo-to-current efficiency of the In2O3–ZnO nanocrystalline arrays. It reveals that the heterojunction construction between two different semiconductors plays a very important role in determining the dynamic properties of their photogenerated charge carriers and their photo-to-current conversion efficiency.

Effect of molecular structure of aniline–formaldehyde copolymers on corrosion inhibition of mild steel in hydrochloric acid solution

Aniline-formaldehyde copolymers with different molecular structures have been prepared and investigated for the purpose of corrosion control of mild steel in hydrochloric acid. The copolymers were synthesized by a condensation polymerization process with different ratios of aniline to formaldehyde in acidic precursor solutions. The corrosion inhibition efficiency of as-synthesized copolymers for Q235 mild steel was investigated in 1.0 mol L(-1) hydrochloric acid solution by weight loss measurement, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, respectively. All the results demonstrate that as-prepared aniline-formaldehyde copolymers are efficient mixed-type corrosion inhibitors for mild steels in hydrochloric acid. The corrosion inhibition mechanism is discussed in terms of the role of molecular structure on adsorption of the copolymers onto the steel surface in acid solution.

Enhancement in the photocatalytic antifouling efficiency over cherimoya-like InVO4/BiVO4 with a new vanadium source

The problem of marine life attachment and its pollution to facilities has caused a lot of great troubles in the development and application of marine resources. The holes generated by the photocatalytic coating materials under sunlight may produce strong oxidizing species and showed a significant effect on the degradation and bactericidal performance of environmental organic matter. In this paper, a novel bismuth vanadate/indium vanadate (BiVO4/InVO4) composite with cherimoya-like microstructure was fabricated using new vanadium source. It is found that the composite materials showed enhanced photocatalytic antifouling property. The degradation efficiency of the model pollutes (Rhodamine B, RhB) achieved 99.775% within 280 min over BiVO4/InVO4 nanostructures, and the sterilization rate of E. coli, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and A. carterae achieved 99.7148%, 99.5519%, 99.5411% and 96.00%, respectively. Moreover, the circulate photocatalytic degradation of antibacteria experiments demonstrated the outstanding stability and reusability of BiVO4/InVO4 composite. According to the active free radical trapping experiments, the hydroxyl radical (OH) and superoxide radical (O2-) were certified to be the main reactive oxygen species in the BiVO4/InVO4 system. The distinctly enhanced photocatalytic performance of BiVO4/InVO4 nanomaterial primarily resulted from the narrow bandgap (about 1.86 eV). This study not only provides a new method for developing novel antibacterial materials, but also introduces a visible light-driven photocatalyst for water treatment and marine antifouling, especially for red tide control.

One Pot Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnFe2O4/rGO with Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Performance for Water Splitting

Spinel structure of ZnFe2O4 has attracted widespread attention due to its excellent visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity. The composite photocatalyst of ZnFe2O4 and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have been synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal strategy. A substantially enhanced photoelectrochemical activities for water splitting compared to pure ZnFe2O4 under visible light irradiation were observed. However, as the content of graphene in the composite increased, ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles gradually accumulate to cluster particles, which is not good for the improvement of photoelectrochemical activities.