Degradation of Rhodamine B/Phenol Mixtures in Water by Sun-Like Excitation of a Bi2WO6–TiO2 Photocatalyst

Bi2WO6 and Bi2WO6–TiO2 (5% molar Ti) nano-heterostructures were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. The properties of the synthesized catalysts were characterized, having high photoactivity for Rhodamine B degradation under sun-like illumination, explained by a synergetic mechanism previously proposed through UV and visible induced processes, in which the photosensitization effect of Rhodamine B is considered. We…

Cyclohexane photocatalytic oxidation on Pt/TiO2 catalysts

Gas-solid heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) of cyclohexane in humidified air over TiO2 and Pt/TiO2 catalyst was studied. Pt/TiO2 photocatalysts were synthesized by photodeposition method at different Pt loadings (0.5–2 wt.%). The addition of 0.5 wt.% Pt does not significantly modify the TiO2 properties. The increase in Pt loading induces to an aggregation of metallic particles…

Efficient and affordable hydrogen production by water photo-splitting using TiO2-based photocatalysts

TiO2-based photocatalyst materials were synthesized through a sol–gel method, followed either by: (1) hydrothermal treatment (150 °C/24 h), or (2) heat treatment (calcination) in a temperature range between 400 and 900 °C. The resulting materials were characterized through BET, XRD, TEM, FTIR, RAMAN, laser diffraction and UV–Vis Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy. Photoactivity of the various materials…

Gas-phase Photocatalytic Partial Oxidation of Cyclohexane to Cyclohexanol and Cyclohexanone on Au/TiO2 Photocatalysts

The heterogeneous photocatalytic partial oxidation of cyclohexane in gas-phase as an alternative green process for fine chemicals synthesis was successfully achieved on Au/TiO2 photocatalysts prepared by photodeposition technique. Different gold loadings ranging between 0.5 and 2 wt.% of photodeposited Au on TiO2 synthesized by sol-gel method were obtained by changing the concentration of gold precursor…

Selective photooxidation of alcohols as test reaction for photocatalytic activity

Twenty-four different titania-based systems synthesized through the sol–gel process varying the precursor (titanium isopropoxide or tetrachloride) and/or the ageing conditions (magnetic stirring, ultrasounds, microwave or reflux) were tested for liquid-phase selective photooxidation of 2-butenol (crotyl alcohol) to 2-butenal (crotonaldehyde) and gas-phase selective photooxidation of 2-propanol to acetone. To the best of our knowledge, the former…

Ethanol partial photoxidation on Pt/TiO2 catalysts as green route for acetaldehyde synthesis

Heterogeneous photocatalytic partial oxidation of ethanol was studied over different Pt/TiO2 as an alternative green process for acetaldehyde production. The catalysts were synthesized through the photodeposition of Pt over sol–gel TiO2 with platinum loads of 0.5 and 1 wt.%. The effect of some experimental conditions during photodeposition, such as deposition time and Pt loading, was…

Insights towards the influence of Pt features on the photocatalytic activity improvement of TiO2 by platinisation

The influence of Pt features, such as particle size, dispersion, oxidation state and amount of metal, on the improvement of the photoactivity of TiO2 for phenol and methyl orange degradation was studied. The size of Pt deposits was precisely controlled by changing deposition time under medium light intensity during the photodeposition, with sizes ranging from…

Obituary: Prof. Andrés Ortega

Prof. Andrés Ortega passed away on last January after a painful and long illness. He was Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Seville (Spain) and was an outstanding researcher in the field of solid state reaction kinetics, an area to which he devoted his entire career since 1983, when he submitted his PhD…