Increasing Profitability of Ethanol Photoreforming by Simultaneous Production of H₂ and Acetal

Often, H2 is produced photocatalytically at the expense of sacrificial agents. When a sacrificial agent is selectively oxidized, this allows coupling of H2 production with synthesis of value-added organic compounds. Herein, it is argued that the conversion of bioethanol into 1,1-diethoxyethane with simultaneous H2 production increases the economic viability of photocatalysis and suggests a semiconductor material that is the most relevant for this purpose

Atmospheric effects on measurements of distance to Earth artificial satellites

This paper is devoted to the problem of accuracy increasing in allowing for Earth’s atmosphere influences on results of daily ranging observations of the Earth artificial satellites (ASE). Atmosphere delays and their spatial-timely variations for spherical-symmetrical and nonspherical models of atmosphere were determined radiosounding data gathered during a year in Ukraine region using, developed valuing and analysis of models reductions to over of atmosphere, which recommended of IERS for processing distance-ranging observations of the Earth artificial satellites. Investigated and improved models of reductions to over of the atmosphere on the basis of discovered regional and local peculiarity’s of influence atmosphere on the laser and radio ranging observations of the Earth artificial satellites

Photocatalytic properties of rutile nanoparticles obtained via low temperature route from titanate nanotubes

Acid treatment of titanate nanotubes with 0.1 mol dm-3 H2SO4 results in their transformation into various forms of nanostructured TiO2, the shape and crystal structure of which depend on the temperature and time of treatment. Such a transformation at 25 ºC results in the formation of rutile spheroidal nanoparticles, which are characterised by good crystallinity, high specific surface area (ca 250 m2 g-1 BET) and small average diameter of particles (ca. 3 nm). These particles are also characterised by increased activity in reactions of both photocatalytic generation of hydrogen from alcohol and advanced oxidation of organic species (ethanol). Acid assisted transformation of nanotubes at higher temperatures results in formation of nanostructured anatase/titanate composites with lower photocatalytic activity. The mechanism of transformation and the reasons for increased activity of rutile nanoparticles are discusse

Gelatin-templated mesoporous titania for photocatalytic air treatment and application in metal chalcogenide nanoparticle-sensitized solar cells

Mesoporous titania as powders and thin films on ITO were prepared using gelatin as an available and non-expensive pore-forming agent. The mesoporous TiO2 manifested a much higher photocatalytic activity in the gas-phase air oxidation of ethanol and acetaldehyde than the commercial nanocrystalline TiO2 P25 (Degussa Corp.). The mesoporous ITO/TiO2 films exhibited 12–14% efficiency of photocurrent generation in aqueous Na2S electrolyte when illuminated by UV light. Deposition of CdS and PbS nano-particles onto the surface of ITO/TiO2 further increases the photocurrent yields and expands the light sensitivity range of the films to 500–520 nm (CdS) and to 650–700 nm (PbS)