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Taking aquatic processing waste as the main experimental object, to explore the effect of different treatment conditions on the humification process in the acid-hydrothermal reaction process, through the analysis of the hydrothermal process of pH value, organic matter and humus content, humification rate, and infrared spectrum analysis verification to speculate the formation mechanism of humus. The results show that hydrothermal treatment can promote the formation of humus to a certain extent. Under the working conditions of 195℃ and 80min, the humus content of aquatic wastes reaches 78.1% and the humification rate reaches 0.35. In addition, within a certain treatment intensity, the hydrothermal humification intensity will increase with the increase of reaction time and temperature. Under the same working conditions mentioned above, adding a certain amount of inorganic acid for hydrothermal treatment, the humus content is slightly higher than that of the group without acid. The humification rate reaches 0.45, which is 0.3 times higher than that of the group without acid. It shows that hydrothermal treatment can promote the formation of humus to a certain extent. Compared with prolonging the reaction time, the increase of temperature has a more obvious effect on the increase of humification rate.

Microspherical bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) can only utilize ultraviolet (UV) light to promote photocatalytic reactions. To overcome this limitation, a uniform and thin BiOCl nanosheet was synthesized with a particle size of about 200 nm. As results of UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy showed, the band gap of this nanostructure was reduced to 2.78 eV, indicating that the BiOCl nanosheet could absorb and utilize visible light. Furthermore, the upconversion material NaYF4 doped with rare earth ions Yb3+ and Er3+ emitted visible light at 410 nm following excitation with near‐infrared (NIR) light (980 nm), which could be utilized by BiOCl to produce a photocatalytic reaction. To produce a high‐efficiency photocatalyst (NaYF4:Yb3+,Er3+@BiOCl), BiOCl‐loaded NaYF4:Yb3+,Er3+ was successfully synthesized via a simple two‐step hydrothermal method. The as‐synthesized material was confirmed using X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy as well as other characterizations. The removal ratio of methylene blue by NaYF4:Yb3+,Er3+@BiOCl was much higher than that of BiOCl alone. Recycling experiments verified the stability of NaYF4:Yb3+,Er3+@BiOCl, which demonstrated excellent adsorption, strong visible‐light absorption and high electron–hole separation efficiency. Such properties are expected to be useful in practical applications, and a further understanding of the NIR‐light‐responsive photocatalytic mechanism of this new catalytic material would be conducive to improving its structural design and function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prepared a unique leaf-like BiVO4-reduced graphene oxide (BiVO4-rGO) composite with prominent adsorption performance and photocatalytic ability by a single-step method. Multiple characterization results showed that the leaf-like BiVO4 with average diameter of about 5 um was well dispersed on the reduced graphene oxide sheet, which enhanced the transportation of photogenerated electrons into BiVO4, thereby leading to efficient separation of photogenerated carriers in the coupled graphene-nanocomposite system. The characterization and experiment results also indicated that the outstanding adsorption ability of such composite was closely associated with the rough surface of the leaf-like BiVO4 and doped rGO. The surface photocurrent spectroscopy and transient photocurrent density measurement results demonstrated that the doped rGO enhanced separation efficiency and transfer rate of photogenerated charges. As a result, the BiVO4-rGO exhibited higher photocatalytic capacity toward the degradation of rhodamine B dye under visible-light irradiation compared with pure BiVO4 and P25. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to realize high efficiency visible-light absorption and electron–hole separation of bismuth vanadate (BVO), we synthesized carbon-doped BVO (C-BVO) with high visible-light absorption behavior. We used polyvinylpyrrolidone K-30 as a template and l-cysteine as the carbon source in a one-step hydrothermal synthesis method, and then obtained the carbon-doped BVO@multi-walled carbon nanotubes (C-BVO@MWCNT) by a two-step method. The carbon nanotubes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, specific surface area, electron spin resonance, and transient photocurrent responses. The XRD analysis confirmed that all photocatalysts were in the same crystal form with a single monoclinic scheelite structure. Combining this with the other characterization results, we showed that the carbon element was successfully doped in BVO and the resulting C-BVO was successfully coupled with multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The removal ratio of rhodamine B by C-BVO@MWCNT was much higher than those by BVO and C-BVO under visible-light irradiation. Recycling experiments verified the stability of C-BVO@MWCNT, which was proved to offer excellent adsorption, strong visible-light absorption behavior, and high electron–hole separation efficiency. Such properties are expected to be useful in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A β-NaYF4:Ho3+@TiO2 core–shell microcrystal photocatalyst was synthesized using a hydrothermal method followed by hydrolysis of tetra-n-butyl titanate (TBOT), with polyvinylpyrrolidone K-30 (PVP) as the coupling agent. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, fluorescence and Raman spectrometry, ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and electron spin resonance were used to characterize the photocatalyst. It was found that the core's hexagonal phase NaYF4:Ho3+ microcrystals were evenly coated by a TiO2 shell and that the average β-NaYF4:Ho3+ microcrystal length was roughly 9 μm with a diameter of about 3.8 μm. After doping which caused a slight increase, the average thickness of the TiO2 shells was about 50 nm. Because Ho3+-single-doped β-NaYF4:Ho3+@TiO2 displays strong visible absorption peaks at 450, 537, and 642 nm, we chose 450, 532, and 633 nm to be the excitation wavelengths. We found ultraviolet emission bands at 290 nm (5D4→5I8) and 389 nm (3K7/5G4→5I8). Also, the energy transfer from β-NaYF4:Ho3+ to anatase TiO2 was confirmed. Rhodamine B (RhB) was used as a model pollutant to investigate the photocatalytic activity of β-NaYF4:Ho3+@TiO2 microcrystals under Xe lamp (500 W) irradiation. This investigation showed an advanced visible-light-driven catalyst, with about 67% of the RhB decomposed after 10 h. Compared with the blank experiment, the efficiency was obviously improved. Recycling experiments showed that the β-NaYF4:Ho3+@TiO2 composite still presented significant photocatalytic activity after four successive cycles. Finally, we investigated the β-NaYF4:Ho3+ upconversion (UC) mechanism and the β-NaYF4:Ho3+@TiO2 core–shell microcrystal visible-light-responsive photocatalytic mechanism. Understanding the visible-light-responsive photocatalytic mechanism will help to improve the structural design and functionality of this new type of catalytic material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Dissolved organic matters (DOM) are critical in the formation of the mutagenic disinfection byproducts (DBPs). In this study, five DOM fractions were isolated and investigated from a contaminated river and a clean reservoir source waters using resin adsorption. The DOM fractions were characterized with excitation–emission matrix, and several typical DBPs formation potentials and the mutagenicity of each DOM fraction were measured. Among these fractions, hydrophobic neutrals (HON), hydrophilic acids (HIA) and hydrophilic bases (HIB) generated the highest carbon-containing DBPs in the river source water, as did HIB and hydrophobic bases (HOB) in reservoir water. Hydrophobic acids (HOA), HON, and HIA were the three most important fractions forming nitrogen-containing DBPs. Following chlorination, the mutagenicity of HON, HIA, HOA and HIB was 1503, 626, 422 and 116ng 4-NQO/mg DOC in river water, respectively. Only HIA and HOA were mutagenic with 85 and 10ng 4-NQO/mg DOC in reservoir water, respectively. The soluble microbial products like substances and aromatic proteins contributed significantly to the mutagenicity of river water; whereas the humic acid-like and fulvic acid-like substances were the primary contributors to the mutagenicity of reservoir water. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many studies have focused on the use of BiVO 4 as a photocatalyst, but few have investigated the production of free radicals during the photocatalytic process. Following synthesis of flowerlike BiVO 4 and characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) Scanning electron microscopy (EDX), UV-Vis and XPS, we successfully prepared BiVO 4 . Then we used electron spin resonance (ESR) to determine the production and degradation of individual active free radicals, including the superoxide radical (·[Formula: see text]) and the hydroxyl radical (·OH). In the first experiment, we used ESR to detect the signals of free radicals (·[Formula: see text] and ·OH) under varying oxygen conditions. The results shown that in addition to production by ·[Formula: see text], ·OH could also be produced by oxidation of h + to OH - . In the next experiment, we detected ·OH under varying pH to identify the result of the first experiment, and found that signal intensities increased with increasing pH, indicating the mechanism for ·OH production. Finally, we conducted a trapping experiment to examine free radical degradation mechanisms. We identified ·OH and h + as the main active free radicals and showed the complete production about ·OH. These results improve current knowledge of free radical production mechanisms, which can be used to enhance the photocatalytic performance of BiVO 4 .

In this paper a novel visible light-driven ternary compound photocatalyst (β-NaYF 4 :Ho 3+ @TiO 2 -rGO) was synthesized using a three-step approach. This photocatalyst was characterized using X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, fluorescence spectrometries, ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area measurement, electron spin resonance, three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy, and photoelectrochemical properties. Such proposed photocatalyst can absorb 450 nm visible light while emit 290 nm ultraviolet light, so as to realize the visible light-driven photocatalysis of TiO 2 . In addition, as this tenary compound photocatalyst enjoys effecitve capacity of charge separation, superior durability, and sound adsorb ability of RhB, it can lead to the red shift of wavelength of absorbed light. This novel tenary photocatalyst can reach decomposition rate of RhB as high as 92% after 10 h of irradiation by visible-light Xe lamp. Compared with the blank experiment, the efficiency was significantly improved. Recycle experiments showed that theβ-NaYF 4 :Ho 3+ @TiO 2 -rGOcomposites still presented significant photocatalytic activity after four successive cycles. Finally, we investigated visible-light-responsive photocatalytic mechanism of the β-NaYF 4 :Ho 3+ @TiO 2 -rGO composites. It is of great significance to design an effective solar light-driven photocatalysis in promoting environmental protection.

In this paper, YF₃:Ho 3+ @TiO₂ core-shell nanomaterials were prepared by hydrolysis of tetra- n -butyl titanate (TBOT) using polyvinylpyrrolidone K-30 (PVP) as the coupling agent. Characterization methods including X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) under TEM, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), fluorescence spectrometry, ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and electron spin resonance (ESR) were used to characterize the properties and working mechanism of the prepared photocatalyst material. They indicated that the core phase YF₃ nanoparticles were successfully coated with a TiO₂ shell and the length of the composite was roughly 100 nm. The Ho 3+ single-doped YF₃:Ho 3+ @TiO₂ displayed strong visible absorption peaks with wavelengths of 450, 537, and 644 nm, respectively. By selecting these three peaks as excitation wavelengths, we could observe 288 nm (⁵D₄→⁵I₈) ultraviolet emission, which confirmed that there was indeed an energy transfer from YF₃:Ho 3+ to anatase TiO₂. In addition, this paper investigated the influences of different TBOT dosages on photocatalysis performance of the as-prepared photocatalyst material. Results showed that the YF₃:Ho 3+ @TiO₂ core-shell nanomaterial was an advanced visible-light-driven catalyst, which decomposed approximately 67% of rhodamine b (RhB) and 34.6% of phenol after 10 h of photocatalysis reaction. Compared with the blank experiment, the photocatalysis efficiency was significantly improved. Finally, the visible-light-responsive photocatalytic mechanism of YF₃:Ho 3+ @TiO₂ core-shell materials and the influencing factors of photocatalytic degradation were investigated to study the apparent kinetics, which provides a theoretical basis for improving the structural design and functions of this new type of catalytic material.