ABSTRACT
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D3RA07623G.].
ABSTRACT
With the widespread application of carbon dots (CDs) in fluorescence imaging, their toxicity has become a focal point of concern. The potential toxicity of CDs synthesized from different raw materials remains an unresolved issue. Laver and wakame, which are commonly popular sea vegetable foods rich in nutrients, were utilized to investigate whether synthetic CDs derived from these alga sources retain medicinal value. Herein, two types of fluorescent alga-derived CDs were prepared through hydrothermal synthesis using laver and wakame respectively. Zebrafish were immersed in both types of CDs to observe their fluorescence imaging effects within the zebrafish bodies. It was observed that laver-derived CDs and wakame-derived CDs exhibited similar luminescence properties but differed in terms of fish egg imaging localization. Additionally, intestinal flora sequencing revealed varying degrees of influence on the zebrafish gut microbiota by the two types of CDs, suggesting that both alga-derived CDs could enhance the abundance of intestinal flora in zebrafish.
Subject(s)
Edible Seaweeds , Porphyra , Quantum Dots , Undaria , Animals , Quantum Dots/toxicity , Zebrafish , Carbon , Coloring Agents , Fluorescent DyesABSTRACT
Integration of molecular transition-metal complexes and semiconductors is an appealing method to develop high-performance hybrid photocatalysts based on improvement of their solar energy harvesting ability and photogenerated charge carrier separation efficiency. Herein, Cu-TCPP modified TiO2 porous cages with oxygen vacancy defects, derived from NH2-MIL-125(Ti) nanocrystals, are successfully prepared to form PC-TiO2-d/Cu-TCPP hybrids via a surface assembly process. The PC-TiO2-d/Cu-TCPP hybrid shows an enhanced photodegradation efficiency (73.7%, 95.4%) towards tetracycline in the air under visible light or the simulated sunlight irradiation compared to PC-TiO2-d (33.7%, 81.1%) within 100 min. Moreover, the photocatalytic system is applicable to coupling both processes of solar fuel production and pollutant degradation. The PC-TiO2-d/Cu-TCPP hybrid exhibits a high hydrogen evolution rate of â¼2 mmol g-1 h-1 in the aqueous solution of tetracycline in an inert atmosphere upon irradiation by the simulated sunlight. In contrast, an inferior photocatalytic performance of hydrogen evolution is observed in pure water without the addition of tetracycline. Finally, the high sustainability of PC-TiO2-d/Cu-TCPP is mainly attributed to the strong interaction between the molecular photosensitizer and the semiconductor photocatalyst by oxygen vacancies and Cu(ii) ions.
ABSTRACT
As one of the sustainable and renewable materials, the carbonization of natural wood is generally considered as a low-cost, environmentally friendly method to fabricate carbon materials. Natural wood, by surficial carbonization, can possess an excellent photothermal effect, low heat loss, and easy water transportation in the solar water desalination process based on the unique structures, leading to high solar water desalination performance. Here, we design and construct a composite of commercial P25 nanocrystal-loaded semi-spherical wood with surficial carbonization at the semi-spherical end (P25/wC-s-s), which is beneficial for light harvesting and water evaporation due to the semi-spherical structure-induced large surface area. The composite displays bi-functions of high solar-to-vapour energy efficiency and an intriguing photo-degradation efficiency for organic pollutants in the solar water purification process. The research provides a novel approach to engineering an efficient, stable, and low-cost bi-functional device for the photothermal/photoelectronic conversion of water treatment.
ABSTRACT
Formic acid molecules, which can be produced by reducing CO2, are considered to be liquid organic hydrogen carriers. Herein, PCN-222(Cu) loaded with Au nanorods was prepared via following a seed-induced growth route, and it exhibited highly selective photocatalytic performance during H2 generation (rate: 2.33 ± 0.12 mmol g-1 h-1, QY: 2.7 ± 0.14%) from HCOOH dehydrogenation, enhanced by plasmonic Au.
ABSTRACT
The change of atom density induced structural collapse in the transformation process from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to their inorganic counterparts is a major challenge to the achievement of porous hollow structures. Herein, we develop an amino acid-mediated strategy for transformation of NH2-MIL-125(Ti) to successfully synthesize well-defined porous cages of titanium oxides (PCT) due to sheets serving as structural scaffolds. On this basis, PCT supported Pt-based nanoparticles are generated via a similar synthetic route, and are utilized to study the selective hydrogenation of carbonyl groups in α,ß-unsaturated aldehydes, benefiting from the specific structures of PCT and tunable electronic structures of Pt mainly affected by doping with metal species such as Co. In this case, Pt-Co/PCT composites give 96% selectivity for cinnamyl alcohol at 100% conversion of cinnamaldehyde under 0.2 MPa H2 and 80 °C for 3 h. This research would offer a promising strategy for important organic transformations in academic and industrial research to selectively synthesize high-value-added products.
ABSTRACT
We have provided a small molecule-assisted heterogeneous nucleation of MOF route to successfully synthesize Au@UiO-66(NH2) heterostructures. UiO-66(NH2) with a localized electronic state that was characterized by C-AFM exhibited higher photocatalytic activity in the heterostructures via a plasmonic sensitization process.
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We explored the use of PVP-Au NPs as nucleation seeds for zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) to selectively synthesize Au@ZIF-8 single- or multi-core-shell structures by epitaxial growth or coalescence of nuclei. Photocatalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol was studied based on LSPR-induced light absorption.
