No abstract

Visible-light-driven photocatalysis is a robust technology for amending the negative effect of pollutants on the environment with a minimum energy use. Herein, we describe a simple approach to producing such a photocatalyst by coupling conjugated polyvinyl chloride (cPVC) with the TiO2 nanotube (TNT) thermolysis method. By activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to make a cPVC/TNT/PMS system using visible light as the source, we obtain a significant enhancement in the photocatalytic performance. We show that PMS use at a concentration of 3 mM can fully degrade rhodamine B (RhB) solution at a remarkably high concentration (200 mg L-1) just in 120 min under visible light. The cPVC/TNT/PMS system also shows excellent stability in recycling tests for at least five times. Further, by confining the active species in photocatalytic reactions, we report a thorough understanding of the extent of involvement from those radicals. Our work presents a robust approach to make a high-performance, visible-light-driven photocatalyst, which can be potentially used in practice.

In this report, we study the effect of silver nanowires (AgNws) dimension to electrical properties of rGO/AgNws hybrid. The alteration of these electrical properties leads the difference of ammonia sensibility of the rGO/AgNws hybrid based sensing devices. When the rGO is accompanied by AgNws of different sizes from ∼ 500 nm to > 10 µm, the ammonia sensitivity of these hybrids change from 60% to 340% alteration compared with the bare rGO material.

ZnO nanorods, with the c-axis orientation used for transparent conductors, solar cells, sensors…, especially the functionalized ZnO nanorods with some kinds of enzymes have been used for biosensor. In this work, we describe the process immobilization of galactose oxidase on ZnO nanorods surface with glutaraldehyde as a cross-linker molecule to make the working electrode in electrochemical biosensor. ZnO nanorods were grown on FTO (Fluorine-doped tin oxide) substrate by solution method at low temperature. The crystalline phase and orientation of ZnO nanorods were identified using X-ray diffraction. The efficiency of the immobilization was calculated by Braford method showed that about 36% enzyme content was immobilized on ZnO nanorods surface. The working electrode based on the immobilized ZnO nanorods was tested in galactose solution by CV (cyclic voltammetry) method indicated the value of current intensity is about 0.14 µA. These results clearly demonstrate the potential of galactose sensor based on ZnO nanorod.