• Carbon letters
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.108-114
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• 2007

In this work, activated carbon (AC) after $HNO_3$ modification was used as the support during the production of supported $TiO_2$ to increase the high deposition efficiency and the photocatalytic activity. The results of $N_2$ adsorption showed that the BET surface area of samples decreased with an increasing of the concentration of $HNO_3$ due to the penetration of $TiO_2$. From XRD data, a single crystal structure of anatase peak was observed in diffraction patterns for the AC coated with titanium complexes. From the SEM results, almost all particles were aggregated with each other at the carbon surface and AC was covered with $TiO_2$ particles in all of the samples. The EDX spectra show the presence of C, O, Ti and other elements. It was also observed a decreasing of amount of C content with increasing Ti and O content from the EDX. The results of FT-IR revealed that the modified AC contained more surface oxygen bearing groups than that of the original AC. The effect of surface acidity and basity calculated from Boehm titration method was also evaluated from correlations as a function of NaOH, $NaHCO_3$, and $Na_2CO_3$ uptake. The surface modification of AC by $HNO_3$ leads to an increase in the catalytic efficiency of AC/$TiO_2$ catalysts, and the catalytic efficiency increases with increasing of $HNO_3$ concentration.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.8-14
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• 2016

We compared the plausible reaction mechanism and quantitative efficiency of highly self-organized TiO₂ nanotube (ntTiO₂) film with TiO₂ powder. Film was fabricated by electrochemical potentiostatic anodization of titanium thin film in an ethylene-glycol electrolyte solution containing 0.3 wt% NH₄F and 2 vol% deionized water. Nanotubes with a pore size of 80-100 nm were formed by anodization at 60 V for 3 h. Humic acid (HA) was degraded through photocatalytic degradation using the ntTiO₂ film. Pseudo first-order rate constants for 0.3 g of ntTiO₂, 0.3 g TiO₂ powder, and 1 g TiO₂ powder were 0.081 min⁻¹, 0.003 min⁻¹, and 0.044 min⁻¹, respectively. HA adsorption on the ntTiO₂ film was minimal while adsorption on the TiO₂ powder was about 20% based on thermogravimetric analysis. Approximately five-fold more normalized OH radicals were generated by the ntTiO₂ film than the TiO₂ powder. These quantitative findings explain why ntTiO₂ film showed superior photocatalytic performance to TiO₂ powder.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.101-101
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• 2010

ZnO shows a direct band gap of 3.37eV, large exciton binding energy (~60 meV), high oxidation ability, high sensitivity to many gases, and low cost, and it has been used in various applications such as transparent electrodes, light emitting diodes (LEDs), gas sensors and photocatalysts. Among these applications ZnO as photocatalyst has considerably attracted attention over the past few years because of its high activities in removing organic contaminants generated from industrial activities. In this research, ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by spray-pyrolysis method using the zinc acetate dihydrate as starting material at synthesis temperature of $900^{\circ}C$ with concentration varied from 0.01 to 1.0M. The physical and chemical properties of the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were examined by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transformation Infrared (FT-IR), and UV-vis spectroscopy. The Miller indices of XRD patterns indicate that the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles showed a hexagonal wurtzite structure. With increased precursor concentration, a primary, secondary particle sizes of ZnO nanoparticles increased by 0.8 to $1.5{\mu}m$ and 15 to 35nm, and their crystallinity was improved. Methyleneblue (MB) solution ($1{\mu}M$) as a test comtaminant was prepared for evaluating the photocatalytic activities of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized in different precursor concentration. The results show that the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO nanoparticles was gradually enhanced by increased precursor concentration.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2021

SnO2 has the wide bandgap which allows it to be used as the photocatalyst. There are many studies to enhance the photocatalytic properties of SnO2. In this study, 3-dimensional SnO2 aerogel was synthesized using epoxide-initiated sol-gel method for the optimal specific surface area. Also, graphene oxide (GO) was added before the gelation process of the aerogel to maximize the specific surface area. Addition of 0.5 wt% of GO would possibly enhance the specific surface area by 1.7 times compared with the bare tin oxide aerogel. Furthermore, enhanced specific surface area could degrade 67.3% of initial Rhodamine B in 120 minutes. To compare with the bare SnO2 aerogel, 0.5 wt% GO addition to SnO2 could double the reaction rate of the photocatalytic degradation.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.259-266
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• 2021

The (Ga_1-xZn_x)(N_1-xO_x) solid solution is attracting extensive attention for photocatalytic water splitting and wastewater treatment owing to its narrow and controllable band gap. To optimize the photocatalytic performance of the solid solution, the key points are to decrease its band gap and recombination rate. In this study, (Ga_1-xZn_x)(N_1-xO_x) nanofibers with various Zn fractions are prepared by electrospinning followed by calcination and nitridation. The effect of the composition and crystallinity of electrospun oxide nanofibers on the morphology and optical properties of the obtained solid-solution nanofibers are systematically investigated. The results show that the final shape of the (Ga_1-xZn_x) (N_1-xO_x) material is greatly affected by the crystallinity of the oxide nanofibers before nitridation. The photocatalytic properties of (Ga_1-xZn_x)(N_1-xO_x) with different Ga:Zn atomic ratios are investigated by studying the degradation of rhodamine B under visible light irradiation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.837-845
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• 2017

A recirculating integrated system composed of a fluidized biofilter filled with waste-tire crumb media fixed with return sludge from wastewater treatment facility of D dyeing industrial center, and a UV/photocatalytic reactor packed with calcined $TiO_2$ coated-glass beads as photocatalyst-support, was constructed and was run to treat authentic textile-dyeing wastewater from D-dyeing industrial center, which was mixed with an alkaline polyester-weight-reducing wastewater and a wastewater from sizing process. As a result, its total removal efficiency(RE(tot)) of $COD_{cr}$ and colors were ca. 81% and 55%, respectively. The synergy effect of the recirculating integrated system to enhance total removal efficiency(RE(tot)) of $COD_{cr}$ and colors were evaluated at most ca. 7% and 3%, respectively. The fluidized biofilter and the UV/photocatalytic reactor were responsible for ca. 94% and 6% of the total $COD_{cr}$ removal efficiency, respectively, and were also responsible for ca. 86% and 14% of the total color-removal efficiency, respectively. Thus, the degree of the UV/photocatalytic reactor-unit process's contribution to RE(tot) of color, was about 2.4 times of that to RE(tot) of $COD_{cr}$. Therefore, the UV/photocatalytic reactor facilitated the more effective elimination of colors by breaking down the chemical bonds oriented from colors of dyes such as azo-bond, than $COD_{cr}$. In addition, the effect of the removal efficiency of each unit process(i.e., the fluidized biofilter or the UV/photocatalytic reactor) of the recirculating integrated system on RE(tot) of $COD_{cr}$ and colors, was analysed by establishing its model equation with an analytic correlation.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.215-224
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• 2017

Arsenic (As) is known to be the most toxic element and frequently detected in groundwater environment. Inorganic As exists as arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)] in reduced and oxidized environments, respectively. It has been reported that the toxicity of arsenite is much higher than that of arsenate and furthermore arsenite shows relatively higher mobility in aqueous environments. For this reason, there have been numerous researches on the process for oxidation of arsenite to arsenate to reduce the toxicity of arsenic. In particular, photooxidation has been considered to be simple, economical, and efficient to attain such goal. This study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of naturally-occurring goethite as a photocatalyst to substitute for $TiO_2$ which has been mostly used in the photooxidation processes so far. In addition, the effects of several factors on the overall performance of arsenite photocatalytic oxidation process were evaluated. The results show that the efficiency of the process was affected by total concentration of dissolved cations rather than by the kind of those cations and also the relatively higher pH conditions seemed to be more favorable to the process. In the case of coexistence of arsenite and arsenate, the removal tendency by adsorption onto goethite appeared to be different between arsenite and arsenate due to their different affinities with goethite, but any effect on the photocatalytic oxidation of arsenite was not observed. In terms of effect of humic acid on the process, it is likely that the higher concentration of humic acid reduced the overall performance of the arsenite photocatalytic oxidation as a result of competing interaction of activated oxygen species, such as hydroxyl and superoxide radicals, with arsenite and humic acid. In addition, it is revealed that the injection of oxygen gas improved the process because oxygen contributes to arsenite oxidation as an electron acceptor. Based on the results of the study, consequently, the photocatalytic oxidation of aqueous arsenite using goethite seems to be greatly feasible with the optimization of process.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.524-535
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• 2018

In this study, macroporous titania powders were synthesized utilizing the emulsion-assisted self-assembly to apply the removal of B. subtilis under UV irradiation, and the results were compared with the bactericidal effect of commercial titania nanoparticles. By changing the pore size of the porous titania powder, the reduction of B. subtilis by photocatalytic effect was measured, and the bactericidal capacity of the porous particles according to the pore size was compared in order to derive the optimum condition of the sterilization experiment. It was observed that the sterilization effect increased as the pore size became smaller, and it was confirmed that more than 50% of B. subtilis cold be removed for 1 hour of UV irradiation. Also, in order to promote the generation of active chemical species, a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide was combined with the photocatalytic sterilization method, resulting in the removal of most of the strain after ultraviolet irradiation for 1 hour.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.251-256
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• 2013

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) modified with Pd and $TiO_2$ composite catalysts were synthesized by the sol-gel method followed by solvothermal treatment at low temperature. The chemical composition and surface structure were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Photocatalytic recycle degradation experiments were carried out under both UV and visible light irradiation in the presence of MWCNT/$TiO_2$ and Pd-MWCNT/$TiO_2$ composites. As expected, the nanosized Pd-MWCNT/$TiO_2$ photocatalysts had enhanced activity over the non Pd treated MWCNT/$TiO_2$ material in the degradation of a rhodamine B (Rh.B) solution. An increase in photocatalytic activity was observed and attributed to an increase in the photo-absorption effect by MWCNTs and the cooperative effect of Pd and $TiO_2$ nanoparticles. According to the recycled results, the as-prepared Pd-MWCNT/$TiO_2$ sample had a good effect on it.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.210-215
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• 2010

In this study, an expanded graphite-titanium oxide composite is developed from expanded graphite (EG) and titanium n-butoxide (TNB). EG is synthesized by chemical intercalation of natural graphite (NG) and rapid expansion at high temperature. TNB is used as the titanium source. The performances of the prepared EG-$TiO_2$ composite are characterized by BET surface area measurements, scan electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The catalytic activities of the EG-$TiO_2$ composite are investigated by analysis of the degradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution under irradiation of UV light. Compared with the pristine $TiO_2$ and activity carbon-$TiO_2$ (AC-$TiO_2$) composite, the EG-$TiO_2$ composite shows very high efficiency against MB solution, and the EG could improve the photocatalytic effect of $TiO_2$ in the MB degradation reaction under the irradiation of UV light.