authors |
Tobaldi, DM; Lajaunie, L; Rozman, N; Caetano, APF; Seabra, MP; Skapin, AS; Arenal, R; Labrincha, JA |
nationality |
International |
journal |
JOURNAL OF PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY A-CHEMISTRY |
author keywords |
Advanced X-ray methods; High-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy; Anatase-rutile mixture; Apparent optical band gap; Visible-light |
keywords |
QUANTITATIVE PHASE-ANALYSIS; AMORPHOUS CONTENT; BAND ALIGNMENT; ANATASE; TITANIA; OXIDATION; BROOKITE; NANOPARTICLES; DEGRADATION; PHOTODEGRADATION |
abstract |
Titanium dioxide is by far the most used semiconductor material for photocatalytic applications. Still, it is transparent to visible-light. Recently, it has been proved that a type-II band alignment for the rutile - anatase mixture would improve visible-light absorption. In this research paper we thoroughly characterised the real crystalline and amorphous phases of synthesised titanias - thermally treated at different temperatures to get distinct ratios of anatase-rutile-amorphous fraction - as well as that of three commercially available photocatalytic nano-TiO2. Optical spectroscopy showed that even a small fraction of rutile (2 wt%) is able to shift to lower energies the apparent optical band gap of an anatase-rutile mixed phase. But is this enough to attain a real photocatalytic activity promoted by merely visible-light? We tried to give an answer to that question. Photocatalytic activity was assessed in the liquid- and gas-solid phase (employing rhodamine B and 4-chlorophenol, and isopropanol, respectively, as the organic substances to degrade) using a light source irradiating exclusively in the visible-range. Photocatalytic activity results in the liquid-solid phase showed that a high surface hydroxylation led to specimen with superior visible light-promoted catalytic activity - i.e. dye and ligand-to-metal charge transfer complexes sensitisation effects, not photocatalysis sensu-strictu. On the other hand, the gas-solid phase results showed that a higher amount of the absolute rutile fraction (around 10 wt%), together with less recombination of the charge carriers, were more effective for both visible-light absorption and a real visible-light promoted photocatalytic oxidation of isopropanol. |
publisher |
ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA |
issn |
1010-6030 |
year published |
2019 |
volume |
382 |
digital object identifier (doi) |
10.1016/j.jphotochem.2019.111940 |
web of science category |
Chemistry, Physical |
subject category |
Chemistry |
unique article identifier |
WOS:000481566700040
|
ciceco authors
impact metrics
journal analysis (jcr 2019):
|
journal impact factor |
3.306 |
5 year journal impact factor |
3.056 |
category normalized journal impact factor percentile |
56.918 |
dimensions (citation analysis):
|
|
altmetrics (social interaction):
|
|
|