bismuth-oxybromide and titanium-dioxide

Herein, a novel oxygen vacancy-rich amorphous TiO

Topics: Bismuth; Catalysis; Formaldehyde; Light; Oxygen; Oxytetracycline; Particle Size; Photochemical Processes; Surface Properties; Titanium

To further heighten solar-energy utilization efficiency could be significantly meaningful for developing useful photoelectric devices. Here, by integrating the nitrogen-doped graphene-BiOBr (NG-BiOBr) nanocomposites as a photocathode with titanium dioxide (TiO

Topics: Bismuth; Electrochemical Techniques; Electrodes; Graphite; Light; Limit of Detection; Marine Toxins; Metal Nanoparticles; Microcystins; Nanocomposites; Nitrogen; Ponds; Solar Energy; Titanium; Water Pollutants, Chemical

Facets coupled BiOBr with amorphous TiO2 composite photocatalysts are synthesized via an in situ direct growth approach under microwave irradiation. XRD, SEM and HRTEM characterizations indicate that the heterointerface between BiOBr and amorphous TiO2 occurs mainly on the {001} facets of BiOBr. BET and TEM verify that the heterojunctions possess higher specific surface areas and smaller amorphous TiO2 particle size than bare BiOBr and amorphous TiO2, exhibiting the inhibition function of BiOBr on the growth of TiO2 particles. XPS verifies the interaction between the two components. The degradation of methyl orange (MO) and phenol are used as the objective reaction to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared samples. The reaction rate constant of 15% TiO2/BiOBr composite is 3.4 times greater than that of pure BiOBr, which is attributed to its higher surface area, and efficient separation of photo-generated electron-hole pairs between BiOBr and amorphous TiO2.

Topics: Bismuth; Catalysis; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Photochemical Processes; Titanium; X-Ray Diffraction

Nano-sized bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) particles are being considered for applications within the semiconductor industry. However, little is known about their potential impact on human health. In this study, we comparatively investigated the cytotoxicity of BiOBr and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) using human skin keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) as a research model. Results indicate that lamellar-shaped BiOBr (length: 200 nm, width: 150 nm, and an average thickness: around 15 nm) has less toxic effects on cell viability and intracellular organelles than TiO2 (P25) NPs. BiOBr mainly induced late cell apoptosis, while for TiO2, both early apoptosis and late apoptosis were involved. Cell cycle arrest was found in cells on both NPs exposure, and more prominent in TiO2-treated cells. More cellular uptake was achieved after TiO2 exposure, particularly at 10 μg mL(-1), presence of TiO2 resulted in more than 2-fold increase in cellular granularity compared with BiOBr. Furthermore, TiO2 had a high potential to generate intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells, where a 2.7-fold increase in TiO2 group and 2.0-fold increase in BiOBr group at the same concentration of 25 μg mL(-1). Higher cellular uptake and ROS stimulation should contribute to the more hazards of TiO2 than BiOBr NPs. This knowledge is a crucial component in the environmental and human hazard assessment of BiOBr and TiO2 NPs.

Topics: Apoptosis; Bismuth; Cell Line; Cell Survival; Humans; Keratinocytes; Metal Nanoparticles; Particle Size; Reactive Oxygen Species; Skin; Titanium

By taking advantage of the structural affinity between bismuth oxohalide and TiO₂, we successfully prepare a family of hybrid frameworks via the designated growth of bismuth oxohalide nanoplates on TiO₂ nanoribbons, and propose them as sunlight-driven bifunctional photocatalysts for all-weather removal of pollutants. The structural variability of bismuth oxohalide allows the optical absorption of the hybrid framework to be monotonically tuneable across the visible spectrum. Meanwhile, the hybridization greatly increases the surface roughness of the frameworks and enables the frameworks to harvest more photons to participate in photocatalytic reactions. Furthermore, the hybridization establishes two potential gradients to promote the separation of photo-induced electron-hole pairs: the internal electrical field perpendicular to the wide surfaces of bismuth oxohalide nanoplates and across the semiconductor-semiconductor heterojunction. Owing to the synergetic effects of the permeable mesoporous architecture, the intense visible light absorption, and the efficient charge separation, the hybrid frameworks are capable of all-weather removal of pollutants: they utilize the inter-ribbon pores to gather pollutants in the dark (behaving as collectors) and they rapidly degrade the pollutants in the day (behaving as photocatalysts). In particular, the BiOBr@TiO₂ framework exhibits very impressive sunlight-driven photocatalytic activity, which is much higher than commercially available P25 TiO₂ under the same conditions.

Topics: Bismuth; Catalysis; Electrons; Environmental Pollutants; Environmental Restoration and Remediation; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Nanotechnology; Nanotubes, Carbon; Photochemistry; Photoelectron Spectroscopy; Semiconductors; Sunlight; Titanium; Water

Novel highly active visible light photocatalysts BiOBr-TiO2 nanocomposites were prepared by a facile one-pot solvothermal approach. Series of characterizations verified that the BiOBr nanoscale crystals are highly dispersed in amorphous TiO2 to form the hybrid mesoporous structure. The material shows excellent photocatalytic performance towards photodegradation of Rhodamine B under visible light irradiation. The content ratio between TiO2 and BiOBr plays a key role in the microstructure of the nanocomposites, so as to result in distinguished photocatalytic activity. The sample with a molar ratio of 10 between TiO2 and BiOBr shows the optimum performance. The high photocatalytic activity of BiOBr-TiO2 nanocomposites under visible light could be ascribed to the large surface area, opened mesoporous structure, appropriate band-gap, as well as synergistic effect between TiO2 and BiOBr. Besides, the BiOBr-TiO2 composites render a facile separation due to the three-dimensional superstructure. The BiOBr-TiO2 photocatalyst is very promising for water purification as well as other environmental applications.

Topics: Adsorption; Bismuth; Catalysis; Crystallization; Environmental Restoration and Remediation; Light; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Nanocomposites; Nanoparticles; Oxygen; Photolysis; Pressure; Rhodamines; Surface Properties; Titanium; Water Purification; X-Ray Diffraction