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Development of eco-friendly photocatalysts for high-efficiency water purification in the visible lig 2022 > Representative Research Publications > Research Results Home

Development of eco-friendly photocatalysts for high-efficiency water purification in the visible light region

  • Composites Part B: Engineering / July 2022
  • Ha-Rim An, Chaehun Lim(First author), Hyun Uk Lee, Young-Seak Lee(Corresponding author)

Research Summary

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is one of the strongest candidates as a feasible photocatalyst because of its low cost, nontoxicity, and ability to oxidize organic pollutants. But, TiO2 suffers from a wide bandgap, low activity under visible light, and low adsorption ability. In order to overcome these shortcomings, we developed TiO2 phtocatalysts hybridized with carbon materials with large surface area and high conductivity.

In this study, underwater plasma which is a novel one-step synthesis method enables a very simple and fast synthesis of eco-friendly carbon-titanium dioxide (C-TiO2) photocatalyst materials with high crystallinity and porous heterostructure without any additional heat treatment.

This porous eco-friendly photocatalysts (C-TiO2) showed excellent photochemical reaction by extending optical absorption into the visible light region due to their large surface and narrow bandgap energy.

Compared with commercial TiO2, the C-TiO2 photocatalysts displayed the 10 times higher photocatalytic efficiency for high concentration of organic pollutants such as dyes and antibiotics.

Expected Outcomes

We expect that this study will initiate the production of high-quality TiO2 with heterogeneous structures for various industries, such as organic pollutant removal, water splitting, energy storage, and antibacterial purposes.

Related Figures

[Figure 1] Carbon-titanium dioxide photocatalysts (C-TiO2) with high crystallinity and porous heterostructure using underwater plasma.[Figure 1] Carbon-titanium dioxide photocatalysts (C-TiO2) with high crystallinity and porous heterostructure using underwater plasma.

[Figure 2] Organic pollutant (dyes and antibiotics) removal upon exposure to solar and LED light.[Figure 2] Organic pollutant (dyes and antibiotics) removal upon exposure to solar and LED light.

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