Evaluation of the photocatalytic activity of Ln3+-TiO2 nanomaterial using fluorescence technique for real wastewater treatment.

Evaluation the photocatalytic activity of different Ln(3+) modified TiO2 nanomaterials using fluorescence based technique has rarely been reported. In the present work, xmol Ln(3+) modified TiO2 nanomaterials (Ln = Nd(3+), Sm(3+), Eu(3+), Gd(3+), Dy(3+) and Er(3+) ions; x = 0.005, 0.008, 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03) were synthesized by sol-gel method and characterized using different advanced techniques. The photocatalytic efficiency of the modified TiO2 expressed in the charge carrier separation and OH radicals formation were assigned using TiO2 fluorescence quenching and fluorescence probe methods, respectively. The obtained fluorescence measurements confirm that doping treatment significantly decreases the electron-hole recombination probability in the obtained Ln(3+)/TiO2. Moreover, the rate of OH radicals formation is increased by doping. The highly active nanoparticles (0.02Gd(3+)/TiO2 and 0.01Eu(3+)/TiO2) were applied for industrial wastewater treatment using solar radiation as a renewable energy source.

Synthesis of highly active thin film based on TiO2 nanomaterial for self-cleaning application.

Highly active self-cleaning surfaces were prepared from hydrothermally treated TiO2 nanomaterials for different times (0, 12, 24 and 36 h) under acidic condition. TiO2 thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). TiO2 thin film (hydrothermal 24h) exhibited hybrid morphology from accumulated plates, clusters, rods and spheres. The photo self-cleaning activity in term of quantitative determination of the active oxidative species (OH) produced on the thin film surfaces was evaluated using fluorescent probe method. The results show that, the highly active thin film is the hydrothermally treated for 24 h at 200 °C. The structural, morphology and photoactivity properties of nano-TiO2 thin films make it promising surfaces for self-cleaning application. Mineralization of commercial textile dye (Remazol Red RB-133, RR) from highly active TiO2 thin film surface was applied. Moreover, the durability of this nano-TiO2 thin film (hydrothermal 24h) was studied.