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In order to solve the problem of environmental health hazards caused by phthalate esters, a series of pure Bi2O2CO3 and light (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm and Eu) and heavy (Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu) rare earth-doped Bi2O2CO3 samples were prepared by hydrothermal method. The crystalline phase composition and physical structure of the samples calcined at 300 °C were studied, and we found that the rare earth ion doping promoted the transformation of Bi2O2CO3 to β-Bi2O3 crystalline phase, thus obtaining a mixed crystal phase photocatalyst constituted by rare earth-ion-doped Bi2O2CO3/β-Bi2O3. The Bi2O3/Bi2O2CO3 heterostructure had a lower band gap and more efficient charge transfer. The fabricated samples were applied to the photocatalytic degradation of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) under a 300 W tungsten lamp, and it was found that the rare earth ion doping enhanced the photocatalytic degradation activity of DMP, in which the heavy rare earth of Er-doped sample reached 78% degradation for DMP at 150 min of light illumination. In addition, the doping of rare earths resulted in a larger specific surface area and a stronger absorption of visible light. At the same time, the formation of Bi2O2CO3/β-Bi2O3 heterogeneous junction enhanced the separation efficiency of photogenerated electrons and holes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perovskite material has received much attention due to its excellent photoelectric properties. However, the toxicity of Pb has always affected the wide application of perovskite materials. Herein, we proposed to replace Pb ions with the same divalent ions Ba and dope them into the CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals' (PNCs) lattice to reduce the content of Pb elements. In this work, we have successfully prepared a series of CsPb1−xBaxBr3 PNCs (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4) and CsPbBr3 PNCs (Ba-doped concentration = x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20); the best among them were CsPb0.7Ba0.3Br3 PNCs and CsPbBr3 (Ba = 0.1) PNCs, respectively. Compared with CsPbBr3 PNCs, the photoluminescence (PL) intensity of CsPb0.7Ba0.3Br3 PNCs and CsPbBr3 (Ba = 0.1) PNCs has been improved to different degrees. It was worth mentioning that after the addition of a Ba element, the photoluminescent quantum yield (PLQY) of CsPb0.7Ba0.3Br3 PNCs and CsPbBr3 (Ba = 0.1) PNCs was increased to 81% and 65%, respectively. It was due to the high PLQY of CsPb0.7Ba0.3Br3 PNCs that the selected CIE color coordinate monochromatic light encompassed 119.0% of NTSC color gamut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave-assisted catalytic oxidation technology has become an effective technology for rapid removal of organic pollutants in wastewater. In this research, the removal of methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solution by CuFe2O4 loaded on carbon nanotubes (CuFe2O4/CNTs) under microwave irradiation was studied. The effects of different loadings (1:2, 1:4, 1:8) of CuFe2O4 on the dielectric loss, magnetic loss, dielectric loss factor, magnetic loss factor, and reflection loss of composite materials were studied. The results showed that the microwave adsorption performance was improved by loading CuFe2O4 on CNTs. These different composites were further characterized by SEM, FTIR, and XRD techniques. In addition, this article also studied the effects of different microwave irradiation time, pH, and ionic factors on the degradation of MO. In particular, the mechanism of MO degradation by composite materials under different pH conditions was also studied in detail. The results showed that the removal rate reaches 97% with 5 min under the best conditions, and the composite material had good anti-interference performance. This study may provide a new option to degrade organic dye in wastewater treating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-free black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets have emerged as a promising photocatalyst. Herein, early transition-metal carbide and nitride (MXene) decorated BP (Ti3C2Tx/TiO2–BP) nanohybrids were constructed by a hydrothermal method, in which TiO2 was produced in the hydrothermal process. The optimized Ti3C2Tx/TiO2–BP nanohybrids exhibited a higher visible-light photodegradation efficiency of rhodamine B (99.09%) and tetracycline hydrochloride (92.70%) pollutants than that of pristine BP (12.75% and 9.35%, respectively). Diverse characterization techniques and density functional theory calculations have revealed that such enhanced photocatalytic performance was due to the synergistic effect of BP and Ti3C2Tx/TiO2, which could markedly improve the stability of BP, increase visible light absorption, prolong the photoexcited electron lifetime, accelerate the photoinduced electron transfer and hinder the electron–hole (e−–h+) pair recombination. Meanwhile, the mechanism analysis indicated that ˙O2− radicals played a leading role in the photocatalytic process. This study will motivate great interest in using 2D MXenes as co-catalysts to enhance the activity of BP for its applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low average speed of hybrid city buses leads to the overuse of power batteries, which cannot maintain good fuel economy in the whole driving conditions. A control strategy was proposed based on the vehicle speed and battery state of charge (SOC) rules. The control strategy model was designed in MATLAB/Simulink software. Then the control strategy was imported into the CRUISE software to carry out co-simulation with the built vehicle power system model. The results show that the fuel economy of hybrid power control strategy based on SOC and speed planning is better than that based on rules. The fuel economy of whole vehicle is increased by 2.7%. The balance of SOC is less than 5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

The broad application of plastic products has resulted in a considerable release of microplastics (MPs) into the ecosystem. While MPs in other environmental matrices (e.g., soil and water) have been studied for a long time, the atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 )-bound MPs are rarely investigated due to the lack of an appropriate analytical approach. The prevalently used visual and spectroscopic means (e.g., optical microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy) suffer from obvious drawbacks that cannot precisely detect MPs of tiny sizes and provide quantitative information. In the present study, a novel strategy that does not require sample pretreatment was developed to first effectuate accurate quantification of polyethylene MP (PE-MP) in PM 2.5 based on pyrolysis-gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (Pyr-GC-MS/MS). It featured acceptable recoveries (97%-110%), high sensitivity (LOD = 1 pg), and qualified precisions (RSD of 3%-13%). Employing this approach, for the first time, exact atmospheric concentrations of PE-MPs in PM 2.5 from megacities in North (Zhengzhou and Taiyuan) and South (Guangzhou) China were obtained, and relatively serious pollution was found in Taiyuan. The 100% sample detection rates also suggested the widespread occurrence and possible human exposure risks of PM 2.5 -bound PE-MPs. In brief, the new strategy could conduct direct, sensitive, and accurate quantification of PE-MP in PM 2.5 , favoring further studies of environmental fates, distributions, and toxicities of atmospheric MPs.

The photo-Fenton-like catalytic process has shown great application potential in environmental remediation. Herein, a novel photo-Fenton-like catalyst of Bi 2 WO 6 nanosheets decorated hortensia-like CoAl-layered double hydroxides (Bi 2 WO 6 /CoAl-LDHs) was synthesized via hydrothermal process. The optimized Bi 2 WO 6 /CoAl-LDHs composite performed the high-efficiency photo-Fenton-like catalytic performance for oxytetracycline (OTC) removal (98.47%) in the mediation of visible-light and H 2 O 2 . The comparative experiment, technical characterization and density functional theory calculation results indicated that the efficient photo-Fenton-like catalytic performance of Bi 2 WO 6 /CoAl-LDHs was attributed to the synergistic action of the Fenton-like process of cobalt ions in CoAl-LDHs, an internal electric field and the S-scheme heterojunction form between Bi 2 WO 6 and CoAl-LDHs, which could significantly promote the active substance formation and the photocatalytic process in the catalytic system. This study will stimulate the new inspiration of designing the efficient catalytic system for environmental remediation and other fields., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

A highly reactive hollow tubular g-C 3 N 4 isotype heterojunction (SCN-CN) was designed to enhance visible light absorption and manipulate the directed transfer of electrons and holes. The results of UV-vis DRS, XPS valence band and DFT theoretical calculations indicated S doping increases the visible-light absorption capacity and changed the ba nd gap structure of g-C 3 N 4 (CN), resulting in the transfer of electrons from the CN to the SCN and holes from the SCN to the CN under visible light. In addition, the tubular structure of the SCN-CN facilitated the transfer of electrons in the longitudinal direction, which reduced charge carrier recombination. Furthermore, the optical properties, electronic structure, and electron transfer of SCN-CN were also studied by experiments and theoretical calculations. The antibiotic tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) and dye Rhodamine B (RHB) were subjected to evaluate the photocatalytic performance of SCN-CN. The scavenger tests and ESR data showed that the h + , ·O 2 - and ·OH worked together in the photocatalytic process. Moreover, the photocatalytic degradation pathway was analyzed by LC-MS. This study synthesized a hollow tubular CN isotype heterojunction with high visible-light photocatalytic performance and provided a theoretical basis for CN isotype heterojunction., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)