Graphene oxide-CdS composite with high photocatalytic degradation and disinfection activities under visible light irradiation.

Graphene oxide (GO)-CdS composites were synthesized via a novel two-phase mixing method successfully. CdS nanoparticles were uniformly self-assembled on GO sheets at water/toluene interface. The photocatalytic degradation (photodegradation) and disinfection activities of GO-CdS composites were investigated thoroughly. The results show that GO-CdS composites exhibit higher efficiency in photodegradation of various water pollutants than pure CdS nanoparticles under visible light irradiation. In addition, the interactions between GO sheets and CdS nanoparticles inhibit the photo-corrosion of CdS and leaching of Cd(2+). Only 3.5 wt% Cd(2+) of GO-CdS was leached out after photodegradation, while 38.6 wt% Cd(2+) of CdS was lost into aqueous solution. Furthermore, the disinfection activity of GO-CdS composites was investigated for the first time. Nearly 100% of both Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) were killed within 25 min under visible light irradiation. The excellent performances of GO-CdS composites can be attributed to that (1) effective charge transfer from CdS to GO reduces the recombination rate of photo-generated electron-hole pairs; (2) uniform deposition of CdS on GO sheets eliminates aggregation of CdS nanoparticles; and (3) the strong interactions between GO and CdS enhancing the durability of GO-CdS composites. Finally, the mechanism behind these excellent performances was verified by transient photocurrent measurement and further confirmed by ESR technique as well as employing a radical scavenging species - dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO).

Gao P ，Liu J ，Sun DD ，Ng W ... -  《-》

Hierarchical TiO2/CdS "spindle-like" composite with high photodegradation and antibacterial capability under visible light irradiation.

Novel hierarchical TiO(2)/CdS "spindle-like" composites with uniform distribution of CdS nanocrystals on nanoporous TiO(2) mesocrystals were successfully prepared by hydrothermal and hot-injection methods. In this work, the optimal mass ratio of Ti/Cd is determined to be 2 of as-synthesized TiO(2)/CdS composites. This TiO(2)/CdS composite exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity in the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and photocatalytic reaction constant is 10 times higher than that of TiO(2), 3.5 times higher than that of CdS and higher than other TiO(2)/CdS composites with different amount of Ti/Cd mass ratio. In addition, TiO(2)/CdS with optimal amount of CdS kills 99.9% of Escherichia coli in 10 min under visible-light irradiation, which shows significant higher efficiency than pure TiO(2), CdS and other TiO(2)/CdS composites. The excellent performances of this hierarchical composite are ascribed to its outstanding properties, including large specific surface area (BET), high crystallinity of oriented single-crystal-like nanoporous TiO(2) mesocrystals for charge transfer, retarded recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs via isolating electrons and holes in two different materials, and extended photo response of this hierarchical composite to the visible region. Considering all these superior properties and abilities, this hierarchical TiO(2)/CdS "spindle-like" composite will show great potential for applications in the water purification field.

Gao P ，Liu J ，Zhang T ，Sun DD ，Ng W ... -  《-》

Sulfonated graphene oxide-ZnO-Ag photocatalyst for fast photodegradation and disinfection under visible light.

Synthesis of efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst is urgent but challenging for environmental remediation. In this work, for the first time, the hierarchical plasmonic sulfonated graphene oxide-ZnO-Ag (SGO-ZnO-Ag) composites were prepared through nanocrystal-seed-directed hydrothermal method combining with polyol-reduction process. The results indicated that SGO-ZnO-Ag exhibited much faster rate in photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and disinfection of Escherichia coli (E. coli), than ZnO, SGO-ZnO and ZnO-Ag. SGO-ZnO-Ag totally degraded RhB dye and kill 99% of E. coli within 20 min under visible light irradiation. The outstanding performances of SGO-ZnO-Ag were attributed to the synergetic merits of SGO sheets, ZnO nanorod arrays and Ag nanoparticles. Firstly, the light absorption ability of SGO-ZnO-Ag composite in the visible region was enhanced due to the surface plasmon resonance of Ag. In addition, the hierarchical structure of SGO-ZnO-Ag composite improved the incident light scattering and reflection. Furthermore, SGO sheets facilitated charge transfer and reduce electron-hole recombination rate. Finally, the tentative mechanism was proposed and verified by the photoluminescence (PL) measurement as well as the theoretical finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. In view of above, this work paves the way for preparation of multi-component plasmonic composites and highlights the potential applications of SGO-ZnO-Ag in photocatalytic wastewater treatment field.

Gao P ，Ng K ，Sun DD 《-》

Biomolecule-mediated CdS-TiO2-reduced graphene oxide ternary nanocomposites for efficient visible light-driven photocatalysis.

Dutta S ，Sahoo R ，Ray C ，Sarkar S ，Jana J ，Negishi Y ，Pal T ... -  《-》

Ag3PO4/graphene-oxide composite with remarkably enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity toward dyes in water.

Ag(3)PO(4)/graphene-oxide (Ag(3)PO(4)/GO) composite has been synthesized by a liquid phase deposition method, and used for the photodegradation of organic dyes in water under visible light. The as-synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, N(2) sorption-desorption, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra. The SEM image indicated that Ag(3)PO(4) particles were mainly distributed on the surface of GO sheets uniformly. DRS analysis revealed that the samples had good visible light response. The photocatalytic activity of Ag(3)PO(4)/GO composite was evaluated by decomposing of dyes (such as methyl orange, rhodamine B) in water under visible or UV-vis light irradiation. The degradation results indicated that the photocatalytic performance of Ag(3)PO(4)/GO was greatly enhanced due to the improved adsorption performance and separation efficiency of photo-generated carriers. The Ag(3)PO(4)/GO composite with GO content of 15 wt.% exhibited superior activity under visible light irradiation. After 50 min of reaction, the degradation ratio of MO was about 86.7%, while RhB solution could be completely degraded within 30 min of reaction. Further study proved that the direct oxidation of pollutants by holes has played a major role in the degradation process. The results of this work would provide a new sight for the construction of visible light-responsive photocatalysts with high performance.

Chen G ，Sun M ，Wei Q ，Zhang Y ，Zhu B ，Du B ... -  《-》