ZnO/ZnGaNO heterostructure with enhanced photocatalytic properties prepared from a LDH precursor using a coprecipitation method
TL;DR: Wurtzite Zinc-gallium oxynitrides (ZnGaNO) particles were synthesized by nitridation of Zn/Ga/CO3 layered double hydroxides (LDHs) using three different coprecipitation methods, called Decreasing-pH method, Constant-p H method, and Increasing-PH Method, respectively as discussed by the authors.
About: This article is published in Journal of Alloys and Compounds.The article was published on 2017-06-30. It has received 20 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Coprecipitation & Photocatalysis.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the most recent advances in visible-light driven photodegradation of organic pollutants using LDHs based materials with emphasis on the manipulation of their morphological, compositional, and electronic properties and the mechanistic understandings of the photocatalytic processes.
255 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a transition from the native nitrogen monovacancies to the nitrogen-based vacancy complexes in a GaN-ZnO oxynitride was shown to not only reduce the recombination but also enhance the photocatalytic hydrogen production.
37 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reported the successful fabrication of a novel heterojunction photocatalyst (in particulate system) with a Type II band alignment between 1D-ZnO nanorods and BiVO4 nanocrystals.
29 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a sphere-like Bi2MoO6/ZnO composite catalyst was synthesized via solvothermal method and the physicochemical properties of synthesized catalysts were characterized by various instrumental techniques The photocatalytic efficiency of synthesised catalysts was determined towards the degradation of dyes such as methyl orange (MO), rhodamine B (RhB), and methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation.
27 citations
TL;DR: The polymer coated nanosystems were fully characterized, and their sustained DOX delivery were investigated as well as the comprehensive cytotoxicity investigations on HEK-293, PC12, HepG2 and HeLa cell lines, which showed that the nanomaterial had acceptable and very good cell viability.
Abstract: A Zn-Rich (GaN)1−x(ZnO)x nanostructure was synthesized with the assistance of a high-gravity technique in order to reduce the reaction time and temperature. The synthesized inorganic nanomaterial has been applied in both drug and gene delivery systems, and as the first fully inorganic nanomaterial, it was investigated in a comprehensive cellular investigation as well. In order to increase the potential bioavailability, as well as the interactions with the pCRISPR, the nanomaterial was enriched with additional Zn ions. The nanomaterial and the final nanocarrier were characterized at each step before and after any biological analysis via FESEM, AFM, TEM, FTIR and XRD. The polymer coated nanosystems were fully characterized, and their sustained DOX delivery were investigated as well as the comprehensive cytotoxicity investigations on HEK-293, PC12, HepG2 and HeLa cell lines after 24, 48 and 72 h of treatment, which showed that the nanomaterial had acceptable and very good cell viability at a minimum concentration of 0.1 μg mL−1 and a maximum concentration of 10 μg mL−1. Also, after coating with chitosan and alginate, the relative cell viability on all of the cell lines increased in the range of 2.7% to 18.9%. In the next step, the nanosystems were tagged with pCRISPR to analyze the potential application in the co-delivery of drug and gene. The confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) images of the 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) stained DOX showed that the Zn-rich (GaN)1−x(ZnO)x nanosystem has lower cellular density than the chitosan and alginate coated nanosystems. However, all of them showed acceptable and suitable localization of DOX into the nanostructure and the into the cells after the drug delivery procedure, along with sustained behaviors at different pH values. Furthermore, the CLSM images of HEK-293 and HeLa cell lines showed the successful delivery of pCRISPR into the cells, and the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) reached up to 9.3% for the HeLa cell line, which is a record by itself. In addition, the exact morphologies of the nanosystems before and after drug and gene delivery procedures were investigated via FESEM and TEM, and the results showed that in the presence of polymer coating, the morphology of the substrates was intact.
26 citations
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5,346 citations
TL;DR: An advance in the catalysis of the overall splitting of water under visible light is described: the new catalyst is a solid solution of gallium and zinc nitrogen oxide, modified with nanoparticles of a mixed oxide of rhodium and chromium, which functions as a promising and efficient photocatalyst in promoting the evolution of hydrogen gas.
Abstract: Enhancing catalytic performance holds promise for hydrogen production by water splitting in sunlight.
2,537 citations
TL;DR: This is the first example of achieving overall water splitting by a photocatalyst with a band gap in the visible light region, which opens the possibility of new non-oxide-type photocatalysts for energy conversion.
Abstract: Photocatalytic overall water splitting has been studied extensively from the viewpoint of solar energy conversion Despite numerous attempts, none have yielded satisfactory results for the development of photocatalysts, which work under visible light irradiation to efficiently utilize solar energy We report here the first example of visible-light-driven overall water splitting on a novel oxynitride photocatalyst, a solid solution of GaN and ZnO with a band gap of 258-276 eV, modified with RuO2 nanoparticles In contrast to the conventional non-oxide photocatalysts, such as CdS, the solid solution is stable during the overall water splitting reaction This is the first example of achieving overall water splitting by a photocatalyst with a band gap in the visible light region, which opens the possibility of new non-oxide-type photocatalysts for energy conversion
1,280 citations
TL;DR: The crystallinity of the catalyst is also found to increase with increasing the ratio of ZnO to Ga(2)O(3) in the starting material, resulting in an increase in activity.
Abstract: The physical and photocatalytic properties of a novel solid solution between GaN and ZnO, (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx), are investigated. Nitridation of a mixture of Ga2O3 and ZnO at 1123 K for 5−30 h under NH3 flow results in the formation of a (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx) solid solution with x = 0.05−0.22. With increasing nitridation time, the zinc and oxygen concentrations decrease due to reduction of ZnO and volatilization of zinc, and the crystallinity and band gap energy of the product increase. The highest activity for overall water splitting is obtained for (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx) with x = 0.12 after nitridation for 15 h. The crystallinity of the catalyst is also found to increase with increasing the ratio of ZnO to Ga2O3 in the starting material, resulting in an increase in activity.
380 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a solution of GaN and ZnO for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen under visible light (λ > 400 nm) with good reproducibility.
Abstract: Large-scale hydrogen production from water using only solar energy is an ultimate goal for the supply of clean, recyclable energy, and several reactions and schemes have been proposed. Overall water splitting using a particulate photocatalyst is one attractive solution with a wide range of applications. A number of photocatalysts have been proposed, and some have achieved high quantum efficiencies. Unfortunately, most of these photocatalysts consist of metal oxides and work only in the ultraviolet (UV) region. To effectively utilize solar energy, it is necessary to develop a material that will function under visible light. This paper reviews the recent development of such a photocatalyst, specifically focusing on efforts by the authors’ group to prepare a solid solution of GaN and ZnO. This new material is capable of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen under visible light (λ > 400 nm) with good reproducibility.
348 citations