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Water pollution by toxic dyes is an environmental problem that threatens human health. A green technology to solve this problem is the use of highly efficient photocatalysts under visible/solar light to degrade these organic molecules. However, develop affordable photocatalytic particles with high luminescence performance, enhanced stability, and low degradation is still a challenge. Here, it is reported the hydrothermal synthesis of an advanced and cost-effective nanocomposite based on a ceramic, cadmium sulphide, covered by silver nanoparticles (CdS/Ag), with outstanding photocatalytic efficiency for toxic dyes degradation under ultraviolet and direct solar light. The CdS/Ag nanocomposite completely degrade the Reactive Red 120 (RR 120), Acid Black 1 (AB 1) and Direct Blue 15 (DB 15) dyes in both light irradiations. Without scavenger, about 93% of degradation was observed at 75 min, remaining a high stability (more than 90%) after fourth degradation cycles.

Photocatalysis process has emerged as a prompt method for wastewater treatment and microbial disinfection. The development of visible light active (VLA) photocatalysts, especially Blue LED active (BLA) is a challenge task for the current research scenario towards pollutants degradation and real wastewater treatment. Here, we have developed a material which is highly active under Blue LED. BiOX (X = I or Cl) modified Na-K2Ti6O13 with two concentrations of BiOX was fabricated and effectively utilized for Acid Black 1 (AB 1) dye and tetracycline (TCN) degradations under Blue LED. The TCN degradation was also performed under white LED and direct solar light for comparison, and found that Na-K2Ti6O13/BiOX composite was very efficient in Blue LED and white LED than direct solar irradiation. The higher activity of Na-K2Ti6O13/BiOX in Blue LED confirmed by Blue light absorption of Na-K2Ti6O13/BiOX via DRS measurements. The bare Na-K2Ti6O13 is almost no active (≈10 %) under Blue LED, while Na-K2Ti6O13/BiOX showed 99 % degradation under the same condition for AB 1 degradation. The stability of the Na-K2Ti6O13/BiOX was tested against AB 1 dye degradation with multiple runs. The degradation intermediates of AB 1 and TCN were analysed by GC–MS, and suitable degradation pathways were proposed. The Na-K2Ti6O13/BiOX was tested real wastewater treatment via microbial disinfection under Blue LED. The prepared composite could be effectivity used for piolet or industrial scale level effluent treatment.

Compositional and structural elucidation of the materials is important to know their properties, chemical stability, and electro-photoactivity. The heterojunction electrocatalyst and photocatalyst activity could open a new window for solving the most urgent environmental and energy problems. Here, for the first time, we have designed and fabricated Bi2O3/bismuth titanates modified with MOF-In2S3/CdIn2S4 materials by a stepwise process. The detailed structural elucidation and formation of mixed composite phases were studied in detail. It has been found that the formed composite was efficiently utilized for the electrocatalytic H2 production reaction and the photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline. XRD patterns for the metal-organic framework-In2S3 showed a main compound of MOF, and it was assigned to a MIL-53 MOF phase, with a monoclinic structure. The addition of CdCl2 onto the MOF-In2S3 phase effectively produced a CdIn2S4 flower platform on the MOF rods. The uniform dispersion of the bismuth titanates in MOF-In2S3/CdIn2S4 materials is detected by mapping of elements obtained by dark-field HAADF-STEM. Finally, the predictions of how to integrate experiments and obtain structural results more effectively and their common development in new heterojunctions for electro-/photocatalytic applications are presented. © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.

Furfuryl alcohol, which is the hydrogenated product of furfural, has been identified as a very promising platform chemical with high potential for applications in the manufacture of key chemicals, lubricants, fragrances, and pharmaceuticals. In this work, bare SB, and x % Ru/Al-SB (x=1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 wt. %) samples were fabricated by a hydrothermal method. Bare and most active catalysts were characterized by different techniques, such as BET, FE-SEM, TEM, FT-IR, and XRD, to understand their physical and chemical properties. An evaluation of the effects of various reaction parameters, such as catalyst loading, reaction temperature, and reaction time, on the catalytic performance, showed higher catalytic conversion of furfural and selectivity for the desired products. The most active RuS3 catalyst showed 100 % conversion of furfural and 99 % selectivity for furfuryl alcohol. It could be reused for five consecutive reaction cycles without significant loss of performance. In addition, Ru leaching and loss of conversion or selectivity were not noticed during the five-run recycling test. The EDS elemental mapping analysis of the used catalyst established the preservation of the mesoporous structure, suggesting a strong interaction between the hexagonal porous silicate and the Ru nanoparticles.