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Special Issue "Advances in Solar- and Visible-Light Photocatalysis"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2023 | Viewed by 15880

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Raphaël Schneider

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LRGP, Université de Lorraine, 1 Rue Grandville, BP 20451, 54001 Nancy, France
Interests: catalysis; quantum dots; imaging; sensing; ZnO films
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past thirty years, photocatalysis has become a very important scientific field due to its numerous technological applications. Photocatalysis is not only a clean technology for decomposing harmful compounds, but it can also be used for converting the energy of sunlight into hydrogen or for enabling the reduction of carbon dioxide.

This Special Issue is devoted to all topics related to the preparation of photocatalysts and their applications.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

Photocatalyst engineering;
Nanotechnologies for water, air, and soil remediation;
Structural properties of photocatalysts;
Growth and assembly techniques;
Surface properties;
Solar energy applications;
Visible light active photocatalysts;
Water splitting;
Carbon dioxide reduction.

Prof. Raphaël Schneider
Guest Editor

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

photocatalyst engineering
nanotechnologies for water, air, and soil remediation
structural properties of photocatalysts
growth and assembly techniques
surface properties
solar energy applications
visible light active photocatalysts
water splitting
carbon dioxide reduction

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Heterostructured Photocatalysts Associating ZnO Nanorods and Ag-In-Zn-S Quantum Dots for the Visible Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of the Acid Orange 7 Dye

and

Catalysts 2022, 12(12), 1585; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12121585 - 06 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 974

Abstract

Heterostructured photocatalysts associating ZnO nanorods (NRs) sensitized by quaternary Ag-In-Zn-S (AIZS) quantum dots (QDs) were prepared by depositing AIZS QDs at the surface of ZnO NRs followed by thermal treatment at 300 °C. The ZnO/AIZS catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, UV-vis diffuse spectroscopy and by photoelectrochemical measurements. Their photocatalytic activity was evaluated for the bleaching of the Acid Orange 7 (AO7) dye under visible light irradiation. Results show that the association of ZnO NRs with 10 wt% AIZS QDs affords the photocatalyst the highest activity due to the enhanced visible light absorption combined with the improved charge separation. The ZnO/AIZS(10) photocatalyst degrades 98% AO7 in 90 min under visible light illumination, while ZnO NRs can only decompose 11% of the dye. The ZnO/AIZS(10) photocatalyst was also found to be stable and can be reused up to eight times without significant alteration of its activity. This work demonstrates the high potential of AIZS QDs for the development of visible light active photocatalysts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Solar- and Visible-Light Photocatalysis)

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Open AccessArticle

Rendering Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity to Undoped ZnO via Intrinsic Defects Engineering

Lan-li Chen

Bao-gai Zhai

and

Yuan Ming Huang

Catalysts 2020, 10(10), 1163; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10101163 - 11 Oct 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1738

Abstract

It is significant to render visible-light photocatalytic activity to undoped ZnO nanostructures via intrinsic defect engineering. In this work, undoped ZnO nanocrystals were derived via co-precipitation synthesis. The resulting ZnO nanocrystals were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy, respectively. The visible-light photocatalytic activity of the products were characterized by monitoring the decomposition of methyl orange in water under visible-light illumination of a 300 W halogen lamp. It is found that undoped ZnO nanocrystals exhibit visible-light photocatalytic activity with their first-order rate constant up to 4.6 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹. Density functional calculations show that oxygen vacancies create deep energy levels at E_V + 0.76 eV in the bandgap of ZnO. In conjunction with the density functional calculations, the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange under visible-light irradiation provides direct evidence that oxygen vacancies in ZnO nanocrystals yield the visible-light photocatalytic activity. Our results demonstrate that visible-light photocatalytic activity can be endowed to undoped ZnO nanocrystals by manipulating the intrinsic defects in ZnO. Intrinsic defect-modulated ZnO photocatalysts thus represent a powerful configuration for further development toward visible-light responsive photocatalysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Solar- and Visible-Light Photocatalysis)

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Open AccessArticle

Carbon Dioxide Photoreduction on the Bi₂S₃/MoS₂ Catalyst

and

Catalysts 2019, 9(12), 998; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal9120998 - 27 Nov 2019

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 3265

Abstract

The photocatalytic activity of a material is contingent on efficient light absorption, fast electron excitation, and control of the recombination rate by effective charge separation. Inorganic materials manufactured in unique shapes via controlled synthesis can exhibit significantly improved properties. Here, n-type Bi₂S₃ nanorods (with good optical activity) were wrapped with two-dimensional (2D) p-type MoS₂ sheets, which have good light absorption properties. The designed p-n junction Bi₂S₃/MoS₂ composite exhibited enhanced light absorption over the entire wavelength range, and higher carbon dioxide adsorption capacity and photocurrent density compared to the single catalysts. Consequently, the activity of the 1Bi₂S₃/1MoS₂ composite catalyst for the photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide was more than 20 times higher than that of the single catalysts under visible-light irradiation at ≤400 nm, with partial selectivity for CO conversion. This is attributed to the p-n heterojunction Bi₂S₃/MoS₂ composite designed in this study, the high light absorption of n-Bi₂S₃, accelerated electron excitation, and the electron affinity of the 2D sheet-p-MoS₂, which quickly absorbed excited electrons, resulting in effective charge separation. This ultimately improved the catalytic performance by continuously supplying catalytically active sites to the heterojunction interfaces. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Solar- and Visible-Light Photocatalysis)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

A Review on Quantum Dots Modified g-C₃N₄-Based Photocatalysts with Improved Photocatalytic Activity

Yanling Chen

and

Xue Bai

Catalysts 2020, 10(1), 142; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10010142 - 20 Jan 2020

Cited by 73 | Viewed by 9326

Abstract

In the 21st century, the development of sustainable energy and advanced technologies to cope with energy shortages and environmental pollution has become vital. Semiconductor photocatalysis is a promising technology that can directly convert solar energy to chemical energy and is extensively used for its environmentally-friendly properties. In the field of photocatalysis, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) has obtained increasing interest due to its unique physicochemical properties. Therefore, numerous researchers have attempted to integrate quantum dots (QDs) with g-C₃N₄ to optimize the photocatalytic activity. In this review, recent progress in combining g-C₃N₄ with QDs for synthesizing new photocatalysts was introduced. The methods of QDs/g-C₃N₄-based photocatalysts synthesis are summarized. Recent studies assessing the application of photocatalytic performance and mechanism of modification of g-C₃N₄ with carbon quantum dots (CQDs), graphene quantum dots (GQDs), and g-C₃N₄ QDs are herein discussed. Lastly, challenges and future perspectives of QDs modified g-C₃N₄-based photocatalysts in photocatalytic applications are discussed. We hope that this review will provide a valuable overview and insight for the promotion of applications of QDs modified g-C₃N₄ based-photocatalysts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Solar- and Visible-Light Photocatalysis)

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