Dunlop, PSM

Ming, Tian

Pillai, Suresh C.

Wang, Wanjun

Wong, Po Keung

English

Guest Editor for Special Edition "Photocatalysis in Environment, Energy, and Sustainability

Ulster University's Research Portal

EditorialPhotocatalysis in Environment, Energy, and SustainabilityWanjun Wang,1 Po Keung Wong,2 Suresh C. Pillai,3 Tian Ming,4 and Patrick S. M. Dunlop51Department of Chemistry and Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong,Shatin, Hong Kong2School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong3Centre for Precision Engineering, Materials and Manufacturing Research, Department of Environmental Science,Institute of Technology Sligo, Ash Lane, Sligo, Ireland4Research Laboratory of Electronics, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA5Nanotechnology and Integrated BioEngineering Centre (NIBEC), University of Ulster, Newtownabbey BT37 0QB, UKCorrespondence should be addressed to Wanjun Wang; wanjun@cuhk.edu.hkReceived 28 April 2016; Accepted 3 May 2016Copyright © 2016 Wanjun Wang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Photocatalysis has attracted enormous attention in solarenergy conversion to provide renewable and sustainableenergy source, thus solving the serious environmental andenergy-related problems. Those applications include hydro-gen evolution bywater splitting, CO2conversion to hydrocar-bon fuels, photocatalytic pollutants degradation, and waterdisinfection. In the past few decades, TiO2has been themost commonly used photocatalyst because of its low-cost,nontoxicity, and high efficiency with UV-irradiation. Mean-while, in recent years, researchers have turned their focusto novel materials and advanced technology that may bringphotocatalysis into practical use. In this regard, to move thisfield forward, we invited investigators to contribute originalresearch articles on recent development of photocatalysis inenvironment, energy, and sustainability. This special issueconsists of 9 papers, mainly related to environmental purifi-cation by using various advanced photocatalysts. A briefsummary of all accepted papers is provided below.In “Adsorption and Photocatalytic Kinetics of Visible-Light Response N-Doped TiO2Nanocatalyst for IndoorAcetaldehyde Removal under Dark and Light Conditions,”the paper investigated the removal of indoor acetaldehydeusing N-doped TiO2photocatalyst under visible light irra-diation. It was found that the mesoporous N-TiO2had ahigh ability to absorb acetaldehyde, which was subsequentlyphotooxidized under visible-light irradiation.The increase intemperature would result in the decrease in the adsorptionrate of indoor acetaldehyde.The paper “Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Activityof Nanostructured Materials of Titanium Dioxide Dopedwith Silver and/or Copper and Their Effects in Arabidopsisthaliana” reported the sol-gel synthesis of Cu2+-TiO2andAg@TiO2as nanostructured photocatalysts for microbialdisinfection.The Ag@TiO2was more active than Cu2+-TiO2,whileE. coliwasmore sensitive toAg@TiO2than S. cerevisiae.The impact of the as-prepared photocatalysts in plants wasevaluated by exposing Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 strain tothese materials at different conditions and concentrations.Deleterious effects on A. thaliana due to exposition of silverbasematerials were observed at longer times of exposures andhigher concentrations of photocatalysts.The paper “Synthesis of CdS Sensitized TiO2Photocat-alysts: Methylene Blue Adsorption and Enhanced Photocat-alytic Activities” reported the microwave-assisted hydrother-mal synthesis of a series of CdS/TiO2nanocomposite withdifferent Cd to Timolar ratio by using P25-TiO2nanopowderas the raw materials. Results showed that CdS/TiO2pho-tocatalysts with low Cd to Ti molar ratios exhibited muchhigher activities than P25-TiO2, and the CdS/TiO2samplewith 20% CdS/(TCd2) showed the highest activity among allthese samples, which is attributed to the low rate of electron-hole recombination.The paper “TiO2/Halloysite Composites Codoped withCarbon and Nitrogen from Melamine and Their EnhancedSolar-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Performance” reportedthe fabrication of C andN codoped anatase TiO2/amorphousHindawi Publishing CorporationInternational Journal of PhotoenergyVolume 2016, Article ID 5436847, 2 pageshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/54368472 International Journal of Photoenergyhalloysite nanotubes (C,N-TiO2/HNTs) using melamine asC and N source. The as-prepared C,N-TiO2/HNTs showedhigher photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methy-lene blue than that of TiO2/HNTs.In the paper “Synthesis of CuO/Co3O4Coaxial Hetero-structures for Efficient and Recycling Photodegradation,” ahighly efficient CuO/Co3O4composite was synthesized onCu wire mesh by a simple hydrothermal method. TheseCuO/Co3O4coaxial heterostructures were easy to recycleand exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degra-dation of methylene blue than that of single CuO nanorodarrays.The paper “Evaluation of La-Doped Mesoporous Bioac-tive Glass as Adsorbent and Photocatalyst for Removal ofMethylene Blue from Aqueous Solution” reported a seriesof La-doped mesoporous bioactive glasses (BG-La) withexcellent biosafety and hypotoxicity. The BG-La showedhigher photocatalytic activity than undoped mesoporousbioactive glasses (BG). The MB loaded on BG-La could beeasily desorbed with acid solution due to its electronegativityand mesoporous structure.In the paper “New TiO2/DSAT Immobilization Systemfor Photodegradation of Anionic and Cationic Dyes,” a newtechnique to immobilize TiO2was developed by coatingTiO2solution onto double-sided adhesive tape (DSAT) as athin layer binder without adding any organic additives. Theimmobilized TiO2/DSAT showed lower and higher photocat-alytic activity for the degradation of reactive red 4 andmethy-lene blue than that of TiO2powders in suspension mode,respectively. The DSAT provided a very strong interactionbetween glass and TiO2layers, and therefore the reusabilityof immobilized TiO2/DSAT could be up to 30 cycles.In the paper “Hydrophobic ZnO-TiO2Nanocompositewith Photocatalytic Promoting Self-Cleaning Surface,” ZnOnanorod array film on quartz crystal microbalance is mod-ified by 𝛽-CD in hydrothermal process and then decoratedby P25-TiO2after impregnating in its suspension. The as-prepared films exhibited excellent hydrophobicity as well asself-cleaning property for organics under UV-irradiation.The paper “Enhanced Photocatalytic Property of CuDoped Sodium Niobate” reported the synthesis of Cu dopedNaNbO3by modified polymer complex method. Com-pared with pristine NaNbO3, the as-prepared Cu-NaNbO3showed enhanced photocatalytic activity for H2evolutionfrom methanol aqueous solution as well as degradation ofrhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The Cudoping was found to improve the adsorption property ofNaNbO3and accelerate the mineralization process.AcknowledgmentsWewould like to express our sincere thanks to all the authorsfor submitting their articles to this special issue.Wanjun WangPo Keung WongSuresh C. PillaiTian MingPatrick S. M. DunlopSubmit your manuscripts athttp://www.hindawi.comHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Inorganic ChemistryInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporation http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014 International Journal ofPhotoenergyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Carbohydrate ChemistryInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Journal ofChemistryHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Advances inPhysical ChemistryHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Analytical Methods in ChemistryJournal ofVolume 2014Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014SpectroscopyInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Medicinal ChemistryInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014 Chromatography  Research InternationalHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Applied ChemistryJournal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Theoretical ChemistryJournal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Journal ofSpectroscopyAnalytical ChemistryInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Quantum ChemistryHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014 Organic Chemistry InternationalElectrochemistryInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporation http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014CatalystsJournal of

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