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Construction of Schottky junctions based DUT-67 and Pd nanosheet with enhanced charge carrier separation efficiency for efficient photoreduction of CO 2. [Display omitted] • DUT-67 decorated with Pd nanosheet was prepared. • 0.3-Pd/DUT-67 had considerable photocatalytic CO 2 reduction to CO efficiency of 48.6 μmol g−1. • Schottky barrier at Pd/DUT-67 interface boosts separation of electron-hole pairs. The separation, transfer and recombination of charge often affect the rate of photocatalytic reduction of CO 2. Schottky junctions can promote the rapid separation of space charge. Therefore, in this paper, Pd nanosheets were grown on the surface of DUT-67 by a hydrothermal method, and a Schottky junction was constructed between DUT-67 and Pd. Under the action of the Schottky junction, the CO yield of 0.3-Pd/DUT-67 reached 12.15 μmol/g/h, which was 17 times higher than that of DUT-67. Efficient charge transfer was demonstrated in photochemical experiments. The large specific surface area and the increased light utilization rate also contributed to the increase in the CO 2 reduction efficiency. In addition, the mechanism of Pd/DUT-67 photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maillard reaction can influence the functionalities of myofibrillar protein (MP). Protein-saccharide Maillard-type conjugates improve the solubility of MP but impair its thermal gelling ability. Besides, the influences of Maillard reaction occurred between reducing sugar and free amino acids on MP were not inspected yet. In this study, arginine-glucose Maillard reaction products (MRPs) were adopted to investigate their effects on the physicochemical and gel properties of chicken MP. The results showed that Arg-Glc MRPs significantly decreased surface hydrophobicity and the content of reactive sulfhydryl group, subsequently influenced the gelling behavior and gel properties, e.g., water holding capacity and gel strength. The dynamic rheological results revealed that MRPs reduced the storage modulus value effectively. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the three-dimensional network structure of MP gel became coarser and irregular by the treatment of Arg-Glc MRPs. These results suggested that Arg-Glc MRPs have influences on both the physicochemical properties and the gel properties of MP, which may provide new information to the effects of MRPs on the water holding capacity and texture of meat products. • MRPs lowered the gel strength and the G′ values of myofibrillar protein (MP). • Arg-Glc MRPs also reduced the surface hydrophobicity and reactive SH group content. • MP gels displayed a coarser and more irregular network by treating with the MRPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving the intelligent controllability of the photocatalyst to the surrounding environment is a very meaningful work. Here, the polyacrylic acid (PAA) modified Ag/AgCl-40/CN composite was constructed to achieve an intelligent response of pH value. PAA exhibits hydrophilic properties at high pH value, increasing the adsorption capacity to tetracycline (TC) molecules. The morphology of PAA from contracted state to diastolic state, releasing the Ag/AgCl-40/CN catalyst. In addition, PAA modified Ag/AgCl-40/CN can prevent the loss of AgCl. The g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets (CN) as a carrier enhance the dispersibility of the AgCl particles. The LSPR effects of Ag nanoparticles produce more electrons acting on photocatalytic degradation. On the results of experiment, the degradation of TC by PAA@Ag/AgCl-40/CN shows an excellent degradation activity when the high pH value. Photoluminescence spectroscopy and photocurrent demonstrate that carrier separation efficiency of PAA@Ag/AgCl-40/CN is higher than CN and Ag/AgCl-40/CN. The detection of the main active substances •O 2 − and h+, revealing a reasonable mechanism for the PAA@Ag/AgCl-40/CN hybrid system. This work provides a procedure to obtain smart materials that can switch photocatalytic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High selectivity and fast charge separation are two important factors for photocatalytic wastewater treatment. Herein, we prepared a molecular imprinted Ag/Ag 3 VO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 photocatalyst (MIP) that exhibited great specific recognition ability along with excellent photocatalytic activity. The ultrathin g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets with high surface are used to prepare. The Z-scheme Ag 3 VO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 heterostructure and the surface plasmon resonance of the photoreduced Ag0 together contributed to the improvement of the separation efficiency of photogenerated electrons and holes. In addition, MIP provides the specific recognition ability to preferentially adsorb the target pollutant. The selectivity of photocatalysis was evaluated by the degradation of oxytetracycline and tetracycline solutions. Photoluminescence and transient photocurrent measurements further prove the improved charge separation efficiency of MIP. A plausible photocatalytic reaction mechanism is proposed based on electron spin resonance measurement and the active species trapping experiments, where indicates that the main active species of this photocatalytic process are O 2 − and h+. This research provides an effective strategy for the simultaneous enhancement of selectivity and activity via molecular imprinting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple, efficient, and low-cost Maillard reaction method was developed through ethanol-water pretreatment. The formation of whey protein isolate (WPI)–dextran conjugates was confirmed using the degree of glycosylation, ultraviolet absorbance, browning intensity, color, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The significant conformational changes were illuminated because of the higher wavenumber shift of absorption peaks of FTIR amide I, II, and III bands, the reduction of fluorescent signal, and the decrease of surface hydrophobicity. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the morphological transition of WPI from a smooth sphere to an inhomogeneous block structure with rough and uneven surface before and after covalent grafting of dextran. The strong steric hindrance and abundant hydrophilic hydroxyl groups from covalently conjugated dextran dramatically inhibited the aggregation between conjugate molecules which exhibited low turbidity and good solubility in a wide pH range from 2.0 to 10.0. Emulsifying activity and emulsifying stability of WPI were significantly improved after glycosylation. This work will be beneficial to control the formation of light-colored Maillard reaction products under high substrate concentration, high reaction rate, and low water content at mild temperatures for short processing time, and to facilitate the large-scale preparation of glycosylated protein with desirable physicochemical properties. [Display omitted] • A simple, efficient, and low-cost Maillard reaction method was developed. • Maillard reaction time was largely shorten through ethanol-water pretreatment. • Light-colored Maillard reaction products were obtained at mild temperatures. • Advantages were high concentration, high rate, and limited waste water discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Schematic illustration of the formation of CQDs/ZnO@HNTs in the whole synthetic process. Highlights • We have experimentally demonstrated the carbon incorporated ZnO via coupling CQDs. A notable transformation of burger-like CQD s /ZnO morphology was observed and the HNTs have been introduced to improve the dispersity of hybrid photocatalysts. • From efficiently modulation of band structure of CQD s -based materials, the as-prepared CQD s /ZnO@HNTs display a remarkable optical excitation in photogenerated reactive oxygen species (ROS). • This work provides an efficient and novel strategy for element incorporated with introduced inorganic quantum dots owing to the quantum size effect. • It also developed a new sight of CQD s participated phase tuning for semiconductors, offering a beneficial route for expanding the application of VLD photodegradation based on band-tuning semiconductors and other low-dimension materials. Abstract Environmentally friendly photodegradation of refractory pollutants utilizing semiconductor photocatalysis evolution exhibits satisfactory efficiency and low energy consumption, but some of its unbefitting band position largely limits practical applications. The controllable band structure tuning via coupling low-dimensional materials with enormous potential in semiconductor photocatalysis, notably attractive carbon quantum dots (CQDs) induced for a better utilization of low-energy photoexcitation of promising inherent optical properties and photocatalytic performance on organic pollutant degradation. Here, a CQDs modified ZnO hybrid materials was synthesized and the CQDs preluded carbon-incorporated burger-like ZnO nanoparticles clusters were presented thus demonstrated a specific doping-effect. The dispersity improved by loading halloysite nanotube (HNTs) for efficiently photocatalytic activity enhancement. Furthermore, the band structure, excitation and photocatalytic reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation were detected to reveal the photochemical properties and plausible mechanism of CQDs hybrid nanomaterials system. It is observed that the superoxide radical (O 2 −), and singlet oxygen(1O 2) are the principal ROS agents under UV–vis excitations. This work not only displays a CQDs modified system of expanding photo-response range to visible light but also throws a way for quantum elemental incorporated on the influence of band-tuning for semiconductor- dominated photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]