Bangde Luo

Bio: Bangde Luo is an academic researcher from Zhejiang University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Photocatalysis. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 7 citations.

Improved photocatalytic activity of rutile TiO2 for organic oxidation through Ag nanoparticles and borate anions

Abstract: Rutile TiO2 (RT) is usually used as photocatalyst for water oxidation, but seldom for organic oxidation, probably due to the slow reduction of O2. Herein we report a mutual effect of Ag nanoparticles and borate anions greatly increasing the photocatalytic activity of RT for phenol oxidation in neutral aqueous solution. RT was home-made, followed by calcination at 200―800 °C. With a given RT, the rates of phenol oxidation on the addition of Ag and borate were increased and decreased, respectively. In the presence of both Ag and borate, interestingly, the rate of phenol oxidation was larger than that in the presence of Ag. A (photo)electrochemical measurement revealed that Ag and borate, in contact with the irradiated RT, could catalyze O2 reduction and phenol oxidation, respectively. Since the electron and hole transfer processes would promote each other, the positive effect of Ag is further enhanced in the presence of borate. This work demonstrates that RT could be developed as a promising photocatalyst for organic oxidation through a surface co-catalyst.

A rutile TiO2 nanobundle as a precursor of an efficient visible-light photocatalyst embedded with Fe2O3

Abstract: Because rutile TiO2 has a potential application of its effective utilization of indoor illumination in photocatalytic environmental purification, effort has been devoted to synthesizing advanced rutile materials. Herein, we report a rare rutile nanostructure, a rutile nanobundle, synthesised via a layered titanate conversion through a simple dilute HCl treatment and drying at room temperature. This rutile nanobundle shows visible light-responsive photocatalytic activity toward the oxidative decomposition of formic acid in water significantly higher than those of a commercial rutile and anatase-based benchmark TiO2 (P25). The rutile nanobundle, moreover, can be used as a precursor in the synthesis of a mesoporous rutile embedded with a homogeneous distribution of tiny α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. The α-Fe2O3-embedded rutile shows superior photocatalytic activity that is up to 3 times higher than a pristine rutile nanobundle and even comparable to a more costly state-of-the-art visible light-responsive photocatalyst, Au nanoparticle-supported P25.