Integrated oxygen-doping and dye sensitization of graphitic carbon nitride for enhanced visible light photodegradation.

Graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) is a promising metal-free photocatalyst while suffering from low charge mobility induced inefficient photocatalysis. In this work, oxygen doping was employed to enhance the photodegradation of organic pollutants in water on graphitic carbon nitride (GCNO) under visible light. For further absorption extension, four organic dyes (Eosin-Y, Perylene, Nile-red and Coumarin) were adopted to dye-sensitize the GCNO photocatalyst. It was found that O-doping can promote dye sensitization, which was dependent on the type of dyes and influenced the photodegradation efficiencies of methylene blue (MB) and phenol. Nile-red sensitized GCNO presented the best activity in MB degradation under λ>480nm irradiations while Eosin-Y showed the best sensitization performance for phenol degradation under λ>420nm light source. However, dye sensitization was not effective for enhanced pollutant degradation on GCN without O-doping. UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS), photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and photocurrent analyses were applied to investigate the mechanism of carriers' transfer, which indicated that dye molecules could inject extra electrons into GCNO energy band and the energy dislocation could suppress electron/hole recombination, enhancing photocatalytic performances.

Metal-free melem/g-C3N4 hybrid photocatalysts for water treatment.

In this study, graphitic carbon nitride was engineered to produce metal-free melem/g-C3N4 hybrid photocatalysts through a hydrothermal technique. It was revealed that the hydrothermal treatment of g-C3N4 could produce a hybrid structure of "thorn ball" liked melem on g-C3N4 layer at a high temperature, and was able to modify the photoelectronic properties of g-C3N4. The spectroscopic measurements implied that a melem/g-C3N4 hybrid has better light absorption and lower electron/hole recombination than pristine g-C3N4. Therefore, the melem/g-C3N4 photocatalysts can decompose methylene blue solution under artificial sunlight with a higher rate and also present good stability.

Dye and its removal from aqueous solution by adsorption: a review.

In this review article the authors presented up to-date development on the application of adsorption in the removal of dyes from aqueous solution. This review article provides extensive literature information about dyes, its classification and toxicity, various treatment methods, and dye adsorption characteristics by various adsorbents. One of the objectives of this review article is to organise the scattered available information on various aspects on a wide range of potentially effective adsorbents in the removal of dyes. Therefore, an extensive list of various adsorbents such as natural materials, waste materials from industry, agricultural by-products, and biomass based activated carbon in the removal of various dyes has been compiled here. Dye bearing waste treatment by adsorption using low cost alternative adsorbent is a demanding area as it has double benefits i.e. water treatment and waste management. Further, activated carbon from biomass has the advantage of offering an effected low cost replacement for non-renewable coal based granular activated carbon provided that they have similar or better adsorption on efficiency. The effectiveness of various adsorbents under different physico-chemical process parameters and their comparative adsorption capacity towards dye adsorption has also been presented. This review paper also includes the affective adsorption factors of dye such as solution pH, initial dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, and temperature. The applicability of various adsorption kinetic models and isotherm models for dye removal by wide range of adsorbents is also reported here. Conclusions have been drawn from the literature reviewed and few suggestions for future research are proposed.

Different crystallographic one-dimensional MnO2 nanomaterials and their superior performance in catalytic phenol degradation.

Three one-dimensional MnO2 nanoparticles with different crystallographic phases, α-, ß-, and γ-MnO2, were synthesized, characterized, and tested in heterogeneous activation of Oxone for phenol degradation in aqueous solution. The α-, ß-, and γ-MnO2 nanostructured materials presented in morphologies of nanowires, nanorods, and nanofibers, respectively. They showed varying activities in activation of Oxone to generate sulfate radicals for phenol degradation depending on surface area and crystalline structure. α-MnO2 nanowires exhibited the highest activity and could degrade phenol in 60 min at phenol concentrations ranging in 25-100 mg/L. It was found that phenol degradation on α-MnO2 followed first order kinetics with an activation energy of 21.9 kJ/mol. The operational parameters, such as MnO2 and Oxone loading, phenol concentration and temperature, were found to influence phenol degradation efficiency. It was also found that α-MnO2 exhibited high stability in recycled tests without losing activity, demonstrating itself to be a superior heterogeneous catalyst to the toxic Co3O4 and Co(2+).

Novel applications of red mud as coagulant, adsorbent and catalyst for environmentally benign processes.

Red mud (RM) is a by-product of bauxite processing via the Bayer process. Its disposal remains an issue of great importance with significant environmental concerns. In the past decades, a lot of research has been done to utilize red mud for environmental-benign applications such as a building material additive and for metal recovery. In recent years, red mud has also been explored for gas cleaning and wastewater treatment. In this paper, we review varying novel applications of red mud as a coagulant and adsorbent for water and gas treatment as well as catalyst for some industrial processes. The environmental compatibility of red mud is discussed. Some directions of future research are also proposed. Red mud presents a promising application in water treatment for removal of toxic heavy metal and metalloid ions, inorganic anions such as nitrate, fluoride, and phosphate, as well as organics including dyes, phenolic compounds and bacteria. In addition, red mud can also be employed as catalysts for hydrogenation, hydrodechlorination and hydrocarbon oxidation. Moreover, leaching and eco-toxicological tests indicate that red mud does not present high toxicity to the environment before or after reuse.

Volatile organic compounds in indoor environment and photocatalytic oxidation: state of the art.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the major pollutants in indoor air, which significantly impact indoor air quality and thus influencing human health. A long-term exposure to VOCs will be detrimental to human health causing sick building syndrome (SBS). Photocatalytic oxidation of VOCs is a cost-effective technology for VOCs removal compared with adsorption, biofiltration, or thermal catalysis. In this paper, we review the current exposure level of VOCs in various indoor environment and state of the art technology for photocatalytic oxidation of VOCs from indoor air. The concentrations and emission rates of commonly occurring VOCs in indoor air are presented. The effective catalyst systems, under UV and visible light, are discussed and the kinetics of photocatalytic oxidation is also presented.