Synthesis, Analysis, and Testing of BiOBr-Bi 2

In photocatalysis, the recombination of electron-hole pairs is generally regarded as one of its most serious drawbacks. The synthesis of various composites with heterojunction structures has increasingly shed light on preventing this recombination. In this work, a BiOBr-Bi2WO6 photocatalytic heterojunction semiconductor was synthesized by the facile hydrothermal method and applied in the photocatalytic degradation process. It was determined that both reaction time and temperature significantly affected the crystal structure and morphologies of the photocatalysts. BiOBr (50 at%)-Bi2WO6 composites were prepared under optimum synthesis conditions (120°C for 6 h) and by theoretically analyzing the DRS results, it was determined that they possessed the suitable band gap (2.61 eV) to be stimulated by visible-light irradiation. The photocatalytic activities of the as-prepared photocatalysts were evaluated by the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible-light irradiation. The experimental conditions, including initial concentration, pH, and catalyst dosage, were explored and the photocatalysts in this system were proven stable enough to be reused for several runs. Moreover, the interpreted mechanism of the heterojunction enhancement effect proved that the synthesis of a heterojunction structure provided an effective method to decrease the recombination rate of the electron-hole pairs, thereby improving the photocatalytic activity

Ag/AgCl Loaded Bi 2

Hierarchical flower-like Bi2WO6 was successfully synthesized by facile hydrothermal method at low pH. And Ag/AgCl was loaded by photoreduction on its surface. As-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by various techniques. Bi2WO6 was successfully synthesized at a size of 2-3 μm. Depositing Ag/AgCl did not destroy the crystal structure, and both Ag+ and metallic Ag0 were found. The band gap of the composite was 2.57 eV, which indicates that visible light could be the activating irradiation. In the photocatalytic activity test, the composite with 10 wt% Ag/AgCl boasted the highest removal efficiency (almost 100%) in 45 min. The significant enhancement can be attributed to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect and the establishment of heterostructures between Ag/AgCl and Bi2WO6. A possible mechanism of photocatalytic oxidation in the presence of Ag/AgCl-Bi2WO6 was proposed. This work sheds light on the potential applications of plasmonic metals in photocatalysis to enhance their activities

Preparation of Hierarchical BiOBr Microspheres for Visible Light-Induced Photocatalytic Detoxification and Disinfection

Photocatalytic degradation is a promising alternative to traditional wastewater treatment methods. Recently developed visible light-responsive photocatalyst, BiOBr, has attracted extensive attentions. Hereby, a detailed investigation of application of BiOBr to bacterial inactivation and organic pollutants degradation is reported. Hydrothermal catalyst was prepared using template-free method. While, for solvothermal synthesis, CTAB was used as a template. Results indicate a higher photocatalytic activity by the solvothermally prepared catalyst. Solvothermally prepared BiOBr exhibited high photocatalytic activities in both water detoxification and disinfection

Pansharpening with a Guided Filter Based on Three-Layer Decomposition

State-of-the-art pansharpening methods generally inject the spatial structures of a high spatial resolution (HR) panchromatic (PAN) image into the corresponding low spatial resolution (LR) multispectral (MS) image by an injection model. In this paper, a novel pansharpening method with an edge-preserving guided filter based on three-layer decomposition is proposed. In the proposed method, the PAN image is decomposed into three layers: A strong edge layer, a detail layer, and a low-frequency layer. The edge layer and detail layer are then injected into the MS image by a proportional injection model. In addition, two new quantitative evaluation indices, including the modified correlation coefficient (MCC) and the modified universal image quality index (MUIQI) are developed. The proposed method was tested and verified by IKONOS, QuickBird, and Gaofen (GF)-1 satellite images, and it was compared with several of state-of-the-art pansharpening methods from both qualitative and quantitative aspects. The experimental results confirm the superiority of the proposed method

Synthesis, Analysis and Testing of Photoactive Heterojunction Semiconductors

Photocatalysis is a growing area of study for a clean and renewable energy source, particularly for the purification of water and air. Researchers have studied the combination of various semiconductors to create photocatalysts with improved activities, but little has been reported in selecting semiconductors based on their extrinsic type – namely n-type or p-type. In this study, a BiOBr (p-type)-Bi2WO6 (n-type) heterojunction semiconductor was synthesized by the facile hydrothermal method. The new materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and diffuse-reflection spectroscopy (DRS). Degradation of Rhodamine B was employed to measure the photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared photocatalysts. On the basis of these techniques, the influence of the synthesis conditions (namely, hydrothermal reaction time and temperature) and the degradation conditions (namely, initial concentration, pH of the initial dye water and amount of catalysts dosage) have been explored and discussed. Furthermore, effect of concentrations of the dopants (the atomic ratio of BiOBr and Bi2WO6 were 1:4， 1:1， 4:1) was examined by measuring the degradation rate of Rhodamine B. Finally, the mechanism of the degradation process and the enhancement effect of heterojunction were also interpreted by analyzing the quenching effect of the scavengers and the band structure. Conclusively, this study shed light on the benefits of using heterojunction photocatalysts, and also on the importance of considering the semiconductor type when forming composite photocatalysts

Photocatalysis for Heavy Metal Treatment: A Review

Environmental and human health are threatened by anthropogenic heavy metal discharge into watersheds. Traditional processes have many limitations, such as low efficiency, high cost, and by-products. Photocatalysis, an emerging advanced catalytic oxidation technology, uses light energy as the only source of energy. It is a clean new technology that can be widely used in the treatment of organic pollutants in water. Given the excellent adaptability of photocatalysis in environmental remediation, it can be used for the treatment of heavy metals. In this comprehensive review, the existing reported works in relevant areas are summarized and discussed. Moreover, recommendations for future work are provided

An Effective Approach to Improve the Photocatalytic Activity of Graphitic Carbon Nitride via Hydroxyl Surface Modification

In this work, we have developed a hydrothermal method to modify g-C3N4 with hydroxyl surface modification. Modified g-C3N4 has exhibited higher photocatalytic activity in the removal of phenolic compounds under visible light. The improvement may be due to the following merits: (1) Tuning of the hydrophobic surface of g-C3N4 to be hydrophilic; (2) improved adsorption energy, and (3) narrowed band gap for g-C3N4 after hydroxyl surface modification. This method is easy-to-operate, very effective in adding hydroxyl groups on the surface of C3N4, and may be extended to other systems to promote their photocatalytic activities in water treatment