0000000000286361

AUTHOR

Luisa D'urso

A Solar Photothermocatalytic approach for the CO2 conversion: Investigation of different synergisms on CoO-CuO/Brookite TiO2-CeO2 catalysts

Abstract The photoactive features of the least common polymorph of TiO2, i.e. brookite, were combined with the thermocatalytic redox ones of cerium oxide, focusing on the effects of the addition of small amounts of Co-Cu oxides for the solar CO2 conversion. By considering the characterization data, a surface segregation of the hosted metal oxides on the TiO2-CeO2 composite was evidenced, and their presence increased the amount of oxygen vacancies and improved the charge carriers separation. The bimetallic oxides-based sample was the most performing one in the photocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction at room temperature. The formation of carbon monoxide and methane was 5 and 0.5 μmol g−1h−1, …

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Exploring the photothermo-catalytic performance of brookite tio2-ceo2 composites

The thermocatalytic, photocatalytic and photothermo-catalytic oxidation of some volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 2-propanol, ethanol and toluene, was investigated over brookite TiO2-CeO2 composites. The multi-catalytic approach based on the synergistic effect between solar photocatalysis and thermocatalysis led to the considerable decrease in the conversion temperatures of the organic compounds. In particular, in the photothermo-catalytic runs, for the most active samples (TiO2-3 wt% CeO2 and TiO2-5 wt% CeO2), the temperature at which 90% of VOC conversion occurred was about 60 &deg

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Efficient H2 production by photocatalytic water splitting under UV or solar light over variously modified TiO2-based catalysts

Abstract This paper focused for the first time on the comparison between three different approach to modify the chemico-physical properties of TiO2-based photocatalysts and their effect in the H2 production by photocatalytic water splitting both under UV and solar light irradiation, under the same experimental conditions. The application of pulsed laser irradiation to aqueous TiO2 suspensions (first approach) induced structural transformations both on the bulk and on the surface of TiO2, boosting the H2 production, under UV light irradiation, of almost three times (20.9 mmol/gcat·h) compared to bare TiO2 (7.7 mmol/gcat·h). The second strategy was based on a templating method to obtain TiO2 …

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Structural and in situ vibrational study of luminescent cluster assembled silicon thin films

A Low Energy Cluster Beam Deposition apparatus is employed to produce cluster assembled silicon thin films (1-500 nm thick) by using a laser vaporization source. The generated clusters are studied since their formation through time of flight mass spectra and the calculated size in the gas phase are compared with those of the deposited aggregates obtained through Dynamic Scanning Force Microscopy. The deposited material is also studied "in situ" by Raman and infrared spectroscopy. The spectra reveal that the as deposited clusters are hydrogenated with negligible amount of oxide. A comparison of the film properties before and after their air exposure shows that the exposition induces a consis…

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Catalytic and photothermo-catalytic applications of TiO2-CoOx composites

Objective: The necessity to have green and sustainable industrial processes has promoted new technologies for air and water purification together with the research of new energy sources. In this contest, the TiO2-based photocatalysis can be considered a promising route for both environmental applications aIn this work, we have investigated the photocatalytic performance of TiO2-CoOx composites on both photooxidation and photoreduction reactions. Specifically, we have compared the performance of the composites in the thermo-catalytic, photo-catalytic and photothermal-catalytic oxidation of ethanol chosen as model volatile organic compound (VOC) and in the photocatalytic hydrogen production …

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On the Interaction of Carbon Nanowires with Noble Metals through a Study of Their Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectra

This paper deals with the interaction of linear carbon chains (polyynes) with silver and gold surfaces in the form of nanometer-sized clusters. Surface-enhanced Raman signals have been detected rev...

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Au/TiO2-CeO2 Catalysts for Photocatalytic Water Splitting and VOCs Oxidation Reactions

Photocatalytic water splitting for H2 production and photocatalytic oxidation of 2-propanol, an example of volatile organic compounds, were investigated over TiO2 catalysts loaded with gold and/or ceria. In the water splitting reaction the presence of gold only slightly affected the performance of TiO2 whereas the presence of CeO2 had a more remarkable positive effect. In the 2-propanol oxidation Au/TiO2 was the most active sample in terms of alcohol conversion whereas Au/TiO2-CeO2 exhibited the highest CO2 yield. On the basis of characterization experiments (X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis EDX, surface area measurements, Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) and …

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