Novel Photocatalysts for Environmental and Energy Applications 2021

A special issue of ChemEngineering (ISSN 2305-7084).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 7063

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
Interests: CO2 reduction; photocatalysis; artificial photosynthesis; electrochemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, numerous photocatalyst materials have been studied for their remarkable applications in photocatalytic degradation of toxic pollutants, photocatalyst adsorbents for wastewater treatment, hydrogen production, conversion of solar energy into electric energy, and reduction of CO2 to organic fuels (e.g., methane, methanol, formate, or carbon monoxide).

This Special Issue is dedicated to a wide range of strategies that are used due to the free availability of solar radiation and its significant benefits in terms of several applications, such as environmental remediation, synthesis of chemicals, green energy generation, and energy storage. This covers the design, preparation, and characterization of novel photocatalytic materials produced through cost-effective and fully scalable synthesis approaches with controllable dimensions and properties suitable for a wealth of applications in photocatalysis and energy. The synthesis of novel materials with a set of unique and exclusive advantages, such as high catalytic activity, impressive selectivity, long-term durability, and environmental sustainability, are of profound and immediate interest.

Submit your paper and select the Journal “ChemEngineering” and the Special Issue “Novel Photocatalysts for Environmental and Energy Applications 2021” via: MDPI submission system. Please contact the special issue editor ([email protected]) for any queries. Our papers will be published on a rolling basis and we will be pleased to receive your submission once you have finished it.

Dr. Tayyebeh Soltani
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • photocatalytic degradation
  • organic pollutants
  • green energy generation
  • CO2 reduction
  • hydrogen production

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 4425 KiB  
Article
Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production from Formic Acid Solution with Titanium Dioxide with the Aid of Simultaneous Rh Deposition
by Mahmudul Hassan Suhag, Ikki Tateishi, Mai Furukawa, Hideyuki Katsumata, Aklima Khatun and Satoshi Kaneco
ChemEngineering 2022, 6(3), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering6030043 - 10 Jun 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2972
Abstract
Photocatalytic hydrogen production was studied with a formic acid solution with titanium dioxide (TiO2) with the aid of simultaneous Rh deposition. The optimum conditions were as follows: Rh loading, 0.1 wt%; formic acid concentration, 1.0%; solution, pH 2.2; temperature, 50 °C. [...] Read more.
Photocatalytic hydrogen production was studied with a formic acid solution with titanium dioxide (TiO2) with the aid of simultaneous Rh deposition. The optimum conditions were as follows: Rh loading, 0.1 wt%; formic acid concentration, 1.0%; solution, pH 2.2; temperature, 50 °C. Under the optimum conditions, the photocatalytic hydrogen production with TiO2 by the simultaneous deposition of Rh was 5.0 mmol g−1, 12.2 mmol g−1 and 16.0 mmol g−1 after 1 h, 3 h and 5 h of irradiation time for black light, respectively. Rh/TiO2 photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, photoluminescence spectra, diffuse reflectance spectra and the BET surface area. The reaction mechanism of photocatalytic hydrogen production from formic acid by Rh/TiO2 was also proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Photocatalysts for Environmental and Energy Applications 2021)
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13 pages, 4103 KiB  
Article
Fabrication and Characterization of Inverse-Opal Titania Films for Enhancement of Photocatalytic Activity
by Lei Wang, Tharishinny R. Mogan, Kunlei Wang, Mai Takashima, Bunsho Ohtani and Ewa Kowalska
ChemEngineering 2022, 6(3), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering6030033 - 20 Apr 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3221
Abstract
Novel materials with a periodic structure have recently been intensively studied for various photonic and photocatalytic applications due to an efficient light harvesting ability. Here, inverse opal titania (IOT) has been investigated for possible enhancement of photocatalytic activity. The IOT films were prepared [...] Read more.
Novel materials with a periodic structure have recently been intensively studied for various photonic and photocatalytic applications due to an efficient light harvesting ability. Here, inverse opal titania (IOT) has been investigated for possible enhancement of photocatalytic activity. The IOT films were prepared on a glass support from silica and polystyrene (PS) opals by sandwich-vacuum-assisted infiltration and co-assembly methods, respectively. The reference sample was prepared by the same method (the latter) but with PS particles of different sizes, and thus without photonic feature. The modification of preparation conditions was performed to prepare the films with a high quality and different photonic properties, i.e., photonic bandgap (PBG) and slow photons’ wavelengths. The morphology and optical properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV/vis spectroscopy, respectively. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated (also in dependence on the irradiation angle) for oxidative decomposition of acetaldehyde gas under irradiation with blue LED by measuring the rate of evolved carbon dioxide (CO2). It has been found that PBG wavelength depends on the size of particles forming opal, the void diameter of IOT, and irradiation angle, as expected from Bragg’s law. The highest activity (more than two-fold enhancement in the comparison to the reference) has been achieved for the IOT sample of 226-nm void diameter and PBG wavelengths at 403 nm, prepared from almost monodisperse PS particles of 252-nm diameter. Interestingly, significant decrease in activity (five times lower than reference) has been obtained for the IOT sample of also high quality but with 195-nm voids, and thus PBG at 375 nm (prohibited light). Accordingly, it has been proposed that the perfect tunning of photonic properties (here the blue-edge slow-photon effect) with bandgap energy of photocatalyst (e.g., absorption of anatase) results in the improved photocatalytic performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Photocatalysts for Environmental and Energy Applications 2021)
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