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Development of Sunlight Responsive Nanostructured-Catalysts for Environmental Applications
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Development of Sunlight Responsive Nanostructured-Catalysts for Environmental Applications

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanostructured Catalysts".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 10704

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Ravindranadh Koutavarapu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Robotics and Intelligent Machine Engineering, College of Mechanical and IT Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, Korea
Interests: photocatalysis; nanostructured heterostructures; heavy metal ions removal; photoelectrochemical studies; environmental remediation; hydrogen production; energy-related applications
Dr. Malathi Arumugam

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center of Excellence on Catalysis and Catalytic Reaction Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Interests: photocatalysis; nanocomposite materials; advanced oxidation processes; wastewater treatment; CO2 photo-reduction; hydrocarbon production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The environmental remediation and energy demand across the globe has been immensely increasing progressively due to high population growth and driving the industries and the economy. Nowadays, solar light-driven heterostructured nanocomposites are the subject of much attention for wastewater treatment and energy-related applications, owing to their remarkable properties such as high absorption coefficients, excellent electrical and optical properties. Various semiconducting nanomaterials, such as metal oxides, metal sulfides, noble metal nanoparticles, etc., have been utilized to fabricate the solar light harvesting photocatalysts capable of environmental remediation. However, the development of suitable bandgap nanostructures with multi-dimensional composites with sufficient band edge potentials is crucial to bringing about an efficient catalytic process under solar light irradiation. Submissions to this Special Issue on “Development of Sunlight Responsive Nanostructured-Catalysts for Environmental Applications” are welcome in the form of original research papers, mini-reviews, and reviews that reflect state-of-the-art research on this important subject in the following topics: new techniques for the fabrication of of various dimensional nanostructures, multi-dimensional nanocomposites, modification and doping of nanostructures, different pathways for the environmental remediation, and energy-related applications.

Prof. Dr. Ravindranadh Koutavarapu
Dr. Malathi Arumugam
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Semiconductors
  • Multi-dimensional nanostructures
  • Photocatalysis
  • Photoelectrochemical
  • Hydrogen production
  • CO2 and NOx reduction
  • HER and OER reactions
  • Supercapacitor MXene-supported electrocatalysts Solar and visible light

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 3707 KiB  
Article
Construction of Bronze TiO2/Ti3C2 MXene/Ag3PO4 Ternary Composite Photocatalyst toward High Photocatalytic Performance
by Yong Li, Mingqing Zhang, Yanfang Liu, Qinghua Zhao, Xin Li, Qianyu Zhou, Yuanfu Chen and Shifeng Wang
Catalysts 2022, 12(6), 599; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12060599 - 31 May 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3602
Abstract
Research has demonstrated that the formation of composites of titanium dioxide (TiO2) with silver phosphate (Ag3PO4) through the construction of heterojunctions can expand its light absorption range and suppress the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, thereby improving [...] Read more.
Research has demonstrated that the formation of composites of titanium dioxide (TiO2) with silver phosphate (Ag3PO4) through the construction of heterojunctions can expand its light absorption range and suppress the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, thereby improving the photocatalytic performance. However, this method offers only limited performance improvements, and the composite photocatalysts are costly due to the expensive Ag3PO4. In this study, Ti3C2 MXene, which has good hydrophilicity and excellent electrical conductivity, is first used to form Schottky junction composites with bronze TiO2 (TiO2(B)) via electrostatic self-assembly. Then, Ag3PO4 quantum dots were further formed on the surface of the TiO2(B)/Ti3C2 MXene by in situ self-growth, and Ag3PO4 formed heterojunctions and Schottky junctions with TiO2(B) and Ti3C2 MXene, respectively. Finally, a ternary composite photocatalyst TiO2(B)/Ti3C2 MXene/Ag3PO4 was jointly constructed by these functional junctions. Under the synergistic effect of these functional junctions, the mobility and fast separation performance of photogenerated electron–hole pairs of the composite photocatalyst were significantly improved, the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs was effectively suppressed, and the light absorption performance was enhanced. As a result, the composite photocatalyst exhibited excellent photocatalytic performances. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Sunlight Responsive Nanostructured-Catalysts for Environmental Applications)
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14 pages, 2807 KiB  
Article
Bio-Stimulated Adsorption of Cr(VI) from Aqueous Solution by Groundnut Shell Activated Carbon@Al Embedded Material
by Dhilleswara Rao Vaddi, Thirumala Rao Gurugubelli, Ravindranadh Koutavarapu, Dong-Yeon Lee and Jaesool Shim
Catalysts 2022, 12(3), 290; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12030290 - 3 Mar 2022
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2574
Abstract
In this study, a low-cost bioadsorbent aluminum metal blended with groundnut shell activated carbon material (Al-GNSC) was used for Cr(VI) adsorption from aqueous solutions. Al-GNSC was prepared and characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopic (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) [...] Read more.
In this study, a low-cost bioadsorbent aluminum metal blended with groundnut shell activated carbon material (Al-GNSC) was used for Cr(VI) adsorption from aqueous solutions. Al-GNSC was prepared and characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopic (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to determine its surface morphology. Batch studies were performed and the optimum conditions for maximum Cr(VI) removal (of 94.2%) were found at pH 4.0, initial concentration 100 mg/L, adsorbent dosage 8 g/L of Cr(VI) solution, and time of contact 50 min. Moreover, the Langmuir isotherm model (maximum adsorption capacity of 13.458 mg/g) was the best fit and favored the mono-layered Cr(VI) adsorption. The kinetic studies reveal that the pseudo-second-order model was the best fit and favored chemisorption as the rate-limiting step. The desorption study revealed that Cr(VI) leached with sodium hydroxide solution acted as a regenerating agent. It is proved that Al-GNSC removes the Cr(VI) content in groundwater samples. The methodology developed using the Al-GNSC adsorbent as an alternative for the adsorption of Cr(VI) ions is remarkably successful in this study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Sunlight Responsive Nanostructured-Catalysts for Environmental Applications)
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13 pages, 4666 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of ZnO–CdS Composite Nanostructures towards the Degradation of Rhodamine B under Solar Light
by Thirumala Rao Gurugubelli, R. V. S. S. N. Ravikumar and Ravindranadh Koutavarapu
Catalysts 2022, 12(1), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12010084 - 12 Jan 2022
Cited by 35 | Viewed by 3173
Abstract
A simple chemical precipitation route was utilized for the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), CdS NPs and ZnO–CdS nanocomposites (NCs). The synthesized nanostructures were examined for the crystal structure, morphology, optical properties and photodegradation activity of rhodamine B (RhB) dye. The ZnO–CdS NCs [...] Read more.
A simple chemical precipitation route was utilized for the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), CdS NPs and ZnO–CdS nanocomposites (NCs). The synthesized nanostructures were examined for the crystal structure, morphology, optical properties and photodegradation activity of rhodamine B (RhB) dye. The ZnO–CdS NCs showed a mixed phase of hexagonal wurtzite structure for both ZnO NPs and CdS NPs. Pure ZnO NPs and CdS NPs possessed bandgaps of 3.2617 and 2.5261 eV, respectively. On the other hand, the composite nanostructures displayed a more narrow bandgap of 2.9796 eV than pure ZnO NPs. When compared to bare ZnO NPs, the PL intensity of near-band-edge emission at 381 nm was practically suppressed, suggesting a lower rate of photogenerated electron–hole (e−/h+) pairs recombination, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic activity. Under solar light, the composite nanostructures displayed a photodegradation efficiency of 98.16% towards of RhB dye. After four trials, the structural stability of ZnO–CdS NCs was verified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Sunlight Responsive Nanostructured-Catalysts for Environmental Applications)
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