Synthesis and Photocatalytic Sterilization Performance of SA/TiO2.

The photocatalyst sorbic acid (SA)/titanium dioxide (TiO2) was successfully synthesized by sol-gel method and characterized. The composite exhibited regularly spherical particles with the size of 50 nm and the specific surface area of 90.3 m2 g-1, furthermore, it showed mesoporous structure and significantly improved dispersion. SA was grafted on TiO2 surface by -COOTi and TiO2 existed as pure anatase phase in the composite. The addition of SA made the band gap of TiO2 increased from 3.03 to 3.35 eV, which indicting that the composite exhibited a strong response to the ultraviolet light. The optimum preparation parameters of the catalyst were as follows: n(Ti):n(SA) = 1:0.05, ethanol 60 mL, glacial acetic acid 40 mL, hydrothermal temperature 180 °C, hydrothermal time 12 h. The composite could reach the 4.31 log reduction of E. coli, with the optimum catalyst dosage of 0.7 g L-1, irradiated by UV light for 60 min. SA/TiO2 was an environmentally friendly, non-toxic and safe sterilized nanocomposite material appropriate for future bactericidal applications, providing a new way to effectively increase the dispersion of TiO2 particles to achieve superior photocatalytic sterilization efficiency.

[Preparation of ß-In2S3 and Catalytic Degradation of Oxytetracycline Under Solar Light Irradiation].

The preparation of beta-In2S3 nanomaterial was carried out by reacting In (NO3)3 with thioacetamide through hydrothermal process at 120 degrees C for 12 h. The size and morphology of In2S3 were characterized by the scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) while the degradation efficiency was evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of oxytetracycline under natural sunlight. The results revealed that beta-In2S3 nanoparticles are made up of nanosheets with a length of 15-30 nm and with high efficient catalytic performance, in which more than 98% of the initial oxytetracycline (30 mg x L(-1)) was degraded in 4 h. Furthermore, the prepared pG-In2 S3 can be recycled and kept efficient catalytic performance above 85% even after reusing for four times, which reflected the good stability and relative photocatalytic activity of In2S3.

Fabrication of magnetic porous Fe-Mn binary oxide nanowires with superior capability for removal of As(III) from water.

Magnetic porous Fe-Mn binary oxide nanowires were successfully fabricated to efficient removal of As(III) from water. The adsorption capacity of the porous nanowires for As(III) obviously increased with increasing of manganese oxide in the composite, accompanying decrease of the saturation magnetization of the adsorbents. Magnetic porous Fe-Mn binary oxide nanowires with an initial Fe:Mn molar ratio of 1:3 exhibited the highest absorption capacity for As(III) and enable magnetic separation from water. The maximal adsorption capacity value is 171mgg(-1) at pH 7.0. In the initial pH range from 3 to 9, 200µgL(-1) of As(III) could be easily decreased to below 10µgL(-1) by the magnetic porous Fe-Mn binary oxide nanowires (0.05gL(-1)) within 75min, and the corresponding residual As was completely oxidized to less toxic As(V). The coexisting chloride, nitrate and sulfate had no significant effect on arsenic removal, whereas, phosphate and humic acid reduced the removal of As(III) by competing with arsenic species for adsorption sites. The resulting magnetic porous Fe-Mn binary oxide nanowires could be a promising adsorbent for As(III) removal from water.

One step solvothermal synthesis of functional hybrid γ-Fe2O3/carbon hollow spheres with superior capacities for heavy metal removal.

One-step hydrothermal method was developed to prepare hybrid γ-Fe2O3/carbon hollow spheres with a predominant orientation (111) plane of γ-Fe2O3 and rich oxygen-containing functional groups on carbon. The resulting functional hybrid exhibited extremely high adsorption capacities for toxic Pb(II) and Cr(VI) ions in solutions with easy magnetic separation. The ease of synthesis and low cost, coupled with the efficient and rapid removal of toxic heavy metal ions, make hybrid γ-Fe2O3/carbon hollow spheres an attractive adsorbent for the purification of waste and contaminated water.