This paper describes the basics of photocatalysis on semiconductors, mainly on TiO2 and the application of photocatalytic processes to water purification from organic matter. The second chapter is devoted to metal cocatalysts introduced in order to improve the photocatalytic action of titania. Finally, a short review of more interesting practical applications of the processes is presented.

Hybrid systems prepared by fixing a Re(i) complex and a dye on three types of TiO2 nanoparticles in two different ways commonly revealed persistent photocatalysis of the CO2 reduction to CO with no levelling-off tendency under visible-light irradiation in DMF, giving a turnover number of ≥435.

Enhancement of visible-light photocurrent generation by sol-gel anatase TiO2 films was achieved by binding small polyol molecules to the TiO2 surface. Binding ethylene glycol onto the surface, enhancement factors up to 2.8 were found in visible-light photocurrent generation experiments. Density functional theory calculations identified midgap energy states that emerge as a result of the binding...

Steroidal estrogens are a representative type of endocrine-disrupting chemical contaminant that has been detected in surface water. In this paper, modified polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were prepared by adding different amounts of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and nano-TiO2 particles. PVDF-PVP membrane adsorption, UV photolysis and PVDF-PVP-TiO2 membrane photocatalysis performance were...

Abatement of trichloroethylene (TCE, 250 ppm in air) was studied in a novel nonthermal plasma (NTP) dielectric barrier discharge reactor with an inner electrode made of sintered metal fibers (SMF). The SMF electrodes modified with TiO2 and MnO2 were observed to be catalytically active. Their efficiency in TCE decomposition was compared with a Cu inner electrode. The SMF electrode modified with ...

The effectiveness of photocatalytic processes is dictated largely by plasmonic materials with the capability to enhance light absorption as well as the energy conversion efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate how to improve the plasmonic photocatalytic properties of TiO2/Al nano-void arrays by overlapping the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) modes with the TiO2 band gap. The plasmonic TiO...

Heterogeneous photocatalysis is a rapidly developing field in environmental engineering. It has a great potential to cope with the increasing pollution by traffic. The addition of a photocatalyst to ordinary building materials such as concrete, creates environmental friendly materials by which air pollution or pollution of the surface itself can be diminished. TiO2 is added to a cement mortar i...

Anatase TiO2, a wide bandgap semiconductor, likely the most worldwide studied inorganic material for many practical applications, offers unequal characteristics for applications in photocatalysis and sun energy conversion. However, the lack of controllable, cost-effective methods for scalable fabrication of homogeneous thin films of anatase TiO2 at low temperatures (ie. < 100 °C) renders up-to-...

Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in highly-efficient absorbers of visible light for the conversion of solar energy into electrochemical energy. This study presents a TiO2-Au bilayer that consists of a rough Au film under a TiO2 film, which aims to enhance the photocurrent of TiO2 over the whole visible region and may be the first attempt to use rough Au films to sensitize TiO2...

Ag core–TiO2 shell (Ag@TiO2) structured nanoparticles with Ag to TiO2 molar ratio of 1:1.7 were synthesized using one pot synthesis method and post calcination was carried out at 450 C for 3 h to convert it from amorphous to crystalline form. The Ag core and TiO2 shell formation was confirmed by TEM and AFM. The particle size analysis revealed the average size of Ag@TiO2 as approximately around...