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Nanomaterials
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Degradation of Pollutants by Nanostructured Photocatalysts
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Degradation of Pollutants by Nanostructured Photocatalysts

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy and Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 February 2025 | Viewed by 2569

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Davide Spanu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell\'Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
Interests: photocatalysis; green chemistry; pollutant degradation; titanium dioxide nanotubes; analytical chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Sandro Recchia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
Interests: photocatalysis; catalysis; pollutant degradation; titanium dioxide nanotubes; analytical chemistry
Dr. Marco Pinna

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: photocatalysis; nanomaterials; spectroscopy; crystallography; synchrotron techniques

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The degradation of pollutants using nanostructured photocatalysts has emerged as a promising solution for addressing environmental contamination. In recent years, advancements in nanotechnology have led to the development of highly efficient photocatalysts capable of effectively breaking down a wide range of organic and inorganic pollutants under light irradiation. The advantages of this approach include high efficiency in pollutant degradation, reduced energy consumption, and potential for scalable applications in diverse environmental contexts.

This Special Issue aims to compile cutting-edge research on innovative nanostructured photocatalysts and their diverse applications in environmental remediation, including water purification, air purification, soil remediation, and industrial waste treatment.

We invite original research articles and reviews that delve into novel synthesis methods, mechanistic insights, and innovative, practical applications of nanostructured photocatalysts for pollutant degradation. Submissions highlighting fundamental lab-scale research or scaled-up practical applications in real-world settings, addressing both legacy and emerging contaminants, are particularly encouraged.

Join us in advancing the field and contributing to sustainable environmental protection solutions.

Dr. Davide Spanu
Prof. Dr. Sandro Recchia
Guest Editors

Dr. Marco Pinna
Guest Editor Assistant

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. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2900 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

  • photocatalysis
  • nanostructures
  • environmental remediation
  • water purification
  • green chemistry
  • pollutant degradation
  • air purification
  • nanotechnology
  • advanced oxidation processes

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 4432 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Photocatalytic Paracetamol Degradation by NiCu-Modified TiO2 Nanotubes: Mechanistic Insights and Performance Evaluation
by Marco Pinna, Martina Zava, Tommaso Grande, Veronica Prina, Damiano Monticelli, Gianluca Roncoroni, Laura Rampazzi, Helga Hildebrand, Marco Altomare, Patrik Schmuki, Davide Spanu and Sandro Recchia
Nanomaterials 2024, 14(19), 1577; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14191577 - 29 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1076
Abstract
Anodic TiO2 nanotube arrays decorated with Ni, Cu, and NiCu alloy thin films were investigated for the first time for the photocatalytic degradation of paracetamol in water solution under UV irradiation. Metallic co-catalysts were deposited on TiO2 nanotubes using magnetron sputtering. [...] Read more.
Anodic TiO2 nanotube arrays decorated with Ni, Cu, and NiCu alloy thin films were investigated for the first time for the photocatalytic degradation of paracetamol in water solution under UV irradiation. Metallic co-catalysts were deposited on TiO2 nanotubes using magnetron sputtering. The influence of the metal layer composition and thickness on the photocatalytic activity was systematically studied. Photocatalytic experiments showed that only Cu-rich co-catalysts provide enhanced paracetamol degradation rates, whereas Ni-modified photocatalysts exhibit no improvement compared with unmodified TiO2. The best-performing material was obtained by sputtering a 20 nm thick film of 1:1 atomic ratio NiCu alloy: this material exhibits a reaction rate more than doubled compared with pristine TiO2, enabling the complete degradation of 10 mg L−1 of paracetamol in 8 h. The superior performance of NiCu-modified systems over pure Cu-based ones is ascribed to a Ni and Cu synergistic effect. Kinetic tests using selective holes and radical scavengers unveiled, unlike prior findings in the literature, that paracetamol undergoes direct oxidation at the photocatalyst surface via valence band holes. Finally, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) tests and High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HR-MS) analysis were conducted to assess the degree of mineralization and identify intermediates. In contrast with the existing literature, we demonstrated that the mechanistic pathway involves direct oxidation by valence band holes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Degradation of Pollutants by Nanostructured Photocatalysts)
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14 pages, 3783 KiB  
Article
Synthesis of Highly Porous Lignin-Sulfonate Sulfur-Doped Carbon for Efficient Adsorption of Sodium Diclofenac and Synthetic Effluents
by Glaydson S. dos Reis, Sarah Conrad, Eder C. Lima, Mu. Naushad, Gopinathan Manavalan, Francesco G. Gentili, Guilherme Luiz Dotto and Alejandro Grimm
Nanomaterials 2024, 14(16), 1374; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14161374 - 22 Aug 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1173
Abstract
Herein, a novel sulfur-doped carbon material has been synthesized via a facile and sustainable single-step pyrolysis method using lignin-sulfonate (LS), a by-product of the sulfite pulping process, as a novel carbon precursor and zinc chloride as a chemical activator. The sulfur doping process [...] Read more.
Herein, a novel sulfur-doped carbon material has been synthesized via a facile and sustainable single-step pyrolysis method using lignin-sulfonate (LS), a by-product of the sulfite pulping process, as a novel carbon precursor and zinc chloride as a chemical activator. The sulfur doping process had a remarkable impact on the LS-sulfur carbon structure. Moreover, it was found that sulfur doping also had an important impact on sodium diclofenac removal from aqueous solutions due to the introduction of S-functionalities on the carbon material’s surface. The doping process effectively increased the carbon specific surface area (SSA), i.e., 1758 m2 g−1 for the sulfur-doped and 753 m2 g−1 for the non-doped carbon. The sulfur-doped carbon exhibited more sulfur states/functionalities than the non-doped, highlighting the successful chemical modification of the material. As a result, the adsorptive performance of the sulfur-doped carbon was remarkably improved. Diclofenac adsorption experiments indicated that the kinetics was better described by the Avrami fractional order model, while the equilibrium studies indicated that the Liu model gave the best fit. The kinetics was much faster for the sulfur-doped carbon, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 301.6 mg g−1 for non-doped and 473.8 mg g−1 for the sulfur-doped carbon. The overall adsorption seems to be a contribution of multiple mechanisms, such as pore filling and electrostatic interaction. When tested to treat lab-made effluents, the samples presented excellent performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Degradation of Pollutants by Nanostructured Photocatalysts)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Design efficiency: a critical perspective on testing methods for solar-driven photothermal evaporation and photocatalysis
Authors: Hady Hamza; Maria Vittoria Diamanti; Vanni Lughi; Daniela Meroni
Affiliation: University of Milan

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