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Abstract: Bismuth titanates (BTs) can be fabricated by electrospinning combined with calcination at different temperatures. BiOCl/Bi2Ti2O7 nanorod heterostructures were obtained at 500 °C. They possess excellent photocatalytic efficiency and stability for tetracycline hydrochloride (TC‐HCl) degradation under simulated solar light. The excellent catalytic activity is predominantly attributed to the heterostructure between BiOCl and Bi2Ti2O7, which accelerates the separation of photogenerated carriers while the narrow band gap of Bi2Ti2O7 enhances solar energy utilization. On the basis of energy band engineering, scavenger tests, and LC‐HRMS analysis, a possible degradation pathway of TC‐HCl and photocatalytic mechanism were proposed. Our work can predict a facile route for achieving high photocatalytic performance of Bi2Ti2O7‐based materials in the application of TC‐HCl degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fast recombination of photo-generated conduction band electrons ( e ) and valance band holes ( h ) of TiO results in an unsatisfactory photocatalytic performance for organic degradation. To increase the efficiency of charge separation, TiO was modified by Cu-Ce co-doping considering the better redox properties of copper-ceria oxide with respect to the single oxide, i.e., an easier electron capturing ability. An optimal Cu-Ce co-doped TiO with the initial molar ratio of Cu/Ce at 3:1 was prepared by a hydrothermal method with the aim to greatly promote the charge separation, and characterized by XRD, BET, DRS, PL, HR-TEM, and XPS techniques. Upon ultraviolet light irradiation, it exhibits significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity, about 5.8 times that of Ti-HF. The presence of Cu and Ce/Ce benefits electrons captured by molecular oxygen, while an increased hydroxyl groups upon Cu-Ce co-doping consume more holes, resulting in prolonged lifetime of photo-generated carriers. Moreover, it is proved that electron transfers preferably from conduction band (CB) of TiO to CB of CuO and then to nearby CeO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ag/AgCl composite as an alternative visible-light photocatalyst has attracted extensive interests; however, the high charge carrier recombination rate and short-term photocatalytic durability limit their practical application. In the present work, TiO 2 hollow nanofibers (ELTiO 2 ) grafted Ag/AgCl is fabricated via electrospinning-precipitation method. Compared with Ag/AgCl and Ag/AgCl-SGTiO 2 (sol-gel synthetized TiO 2 ), 2.89 and 1.59-fold enhancement in the photodegradation rate toward MO is observed over Ag/AgCl-ELTiO 2 under visible light irradiation. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity is mainly attributed to the higher content of the exposed AgCl {1 1 1} facet, which is beneficial for the separation of photogenerated carriers and accounts for more active sites. Moreover, Ag/AgCl-ELTiO 2 shows better photostability than bare Ag/AgCl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ag/TiO2 nanofibers heterostructure were fabricated by calcination of electrospun PVP/Ti(OiPr)4/AgNO3 composite nanofibers and characterized by XRD, FESEM, EDS, and (HR)TEM. The photocatalytic activity of Ag/TiO2 in the decomposition of parathion was also investigated. It was found that the prepared heterostructure composite included Ag nanoparticles distributed uniformly in the TiO2 nanofibers. Comparing with pure TiO2 nanofibers and Ag nanofibers, Ag/TiO2 heterostructure photocatalyst exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity under ultraviolet light irradiation in the decomposition of parathion aqueous solution. The content of Ag nanoparticles on TiO2 nanofibers played an important role in photocatalytic performance during the parathion degradation reaction. 4% Ag was found to be the optimum doping dosage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]