Synthesis of Micro-Spikes and Herringbones Structures by Femtosecond Laser Pulses on a Titanium Plate—A New Material for Water Organic Pollutants Degradation

Abstract

(1) Background: The shrinkage of water resources, as well as the deterioration of its quality as a result of industrial human activities, requires a comprehensive approach relative to its protection. Advanced oxidation processes show high potential for the degradation of organic pollutants in water and wastewater. TiO2 is the most popular photocatalyst because of its oxidizing ability, chemical stability and low cost. The major drawback of using it in powdered form is the difficulty of separation from the reaction mixture. The solution to this problem may be immobilization on a support (glass beads, molecular sieves, etc.). In order to avoid these difficulties, the authors propose to prepare a catalyst as a titanium plate covered with an oxide layer obtained with laser treatment. (2) Methods: In the present work, we generated titanium oxide structures using a cheap and fast method based on femtosecond laser pulses. The structurized plates were tested in the reaction of methylene blue (MB) degradation under UVA irradiation (365 nm). The photocatalytic activity and kinetic properties for the degradation of MB are provided. (3) Results: Studies of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirm a titanium oxide layer with laser-induced generated structures that are called “spikes” and “herringbones”. The structurized plates were effective photocatalysts, and their activity depends on the structure of the oxide layer (spike and herringbone). (4) Conclusion: The immobilization of the catalyst on a solid support can be performed in a fast and reproducible manner by using the technique of laser ablation. The layers obtained with this method have been shown to have catalytic properties.

Fabrication of Piezoelectric ZnO Nanowires on Laser Textured Copper Substrate to Enhance Catalytic Properties

“…Therefore, the preparation of periodic and patterned arrays of CuO-Cu 2 O-ZnO heterojunction on 3D micro-/nano-structured copper substrates remains a great challenge. In recent years, laser processing technology has attracted a lot of attention in the preparation of water treatment materials due to its unique advantages such as high energy density and short processing time [39][40][41], including processing various superhydrophobic surfaces with self-cleaning functions and preparing graphene materials with anti-fouling and anti-bacterial functions [42,43]. Our group also reported the fabrication of copper mesh with an oil-water separation function using laser processing technology for oil spill treatment in the environment, along with other uses [44,45].…”