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Ternary NiCoFe mixed-metal oxides (NCF-MMOs) with different Ni/Co/Fe ratios were successfully synthesized through a hydrotalcite-like precursor route by co-precipitation of appropriate amounts of metal salts from homogeneous solution, followed by calcination at 600 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns revealed the formation of well crystalline layered double hydroxides (LDHs), particularly at the M2+/M3+ ratio of 3 : 1. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis revealed that the resulting NiCoFe LDHs possessed large specific surface areas (66.9-93.8 m2 g-1). The NCF-MMO (1 : 2 : 1) samples were demonstrated to be formed by the aggregation of regular cubes with an edge length of about 2 μm, and each cube was accumulated with many fine particles with a size of ∼130 nm. UV-vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS) confirmed that the samples showed a broad absorption in the visible-light region (450-750 nm), with a low band gap of 2.33-2.77 eV. The calcined samples with a Ni/Co/Fe molar ratio of 1 : 2 : 1 possessed the best photocatalytic activity with 96.8% degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under visible light irradiation for 4 h, which exceeded those of commercial P25 TiO2, binary NiFe mixed-metal oxides and pure Fe2O3, CoO and NiO particles under the same conditions. NCF-MMO (1 : 2 : 1) also had a strong degradation effect on the non-dye pollutant phenol as well. Kinetic studies suggested that the degradation of MB followed a pseudo-first-order kinetic behavior. The photodegradation mechanism of NCF-MMOs was also discussed.

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Indium oxide (In 2 O 3 ) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposites were successfully synthesized through a facile microwave hydrothermal method. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N 2 adsorption-desorption isotherms (BET) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The morphology of In 2 O 3 -ZnO composites was observed to be like flowers, and the diameter of particles constituting the porous petal was about 30 nm. The photoelectrocatalytic test results showed that the photoelectrocatalytic methylene blue (MB) degradation efficiency using In 2 O 3 -ZnO nanocomposites as photocatalysts under visible light irradiation and a certain voltage could reached above 95.3% after 60 min, much higher than that of In 2 O 3 particles and ZnO particles. The enhanced photoelectrocatalytic activity was attributed to the doping of In 2 O 3 and applied voltage, which beneficially reduced the recombination of electrons and holes in the photoelectrocatalytic process, therefore, it promoted the production of active species (•OH and •O − 2 ).

Blends of compatibilized polyoxymethylene (POM)/ethylene butylacrylate copolymer (EBA)/ethylene‐methyl acrylate‐glycidyl methacrylate copolymer (EMA‐GMA) and uncompatibilized POM/EBA were investigated. The notched impact strength of the compatibilized blends was higher than that of their uncompatibilized counterparts. The toughness of the POM blends was improved obviously with relatively low loading of EBA. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of EMA‐GMA, pure POM, and POM/EBA/EMA‐GMA blends indicated that epoxy groups of EMA‐GMA reacted with terminal hydroxyl groups of POM molecular chains. The glass‐transition temperature (Tg) values of the POM matrix and the EBA phase were observed shifted to each other in the presence of EMA‐GMA compatibilizer indicating that the compatibilized blends had better compatibility than their uncompatibilized counterparts. With the addition of EBA to POM, both the compatibilized and uncompatibilized blends showed higher onset degradation temperature (Td) than that of pure POM and the Td values of the compatibilized blends were higher than those of their uncompatibilized counterparts. The scanning electron microscopy showed better EBA particles distribution state in the compatibilized system than in the uncompatibilized one. The compatibilized blend with an obvious rougher impact fracture surface indicated the ductile fracture mode. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 58:1127–1134, 2018. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers