A modified Hummer's method was adopted for the synthesis of graphene oxide(GO) and reduced graphene oxide(rGO). It was revealed that the modified method is effective for the production of GO and rGO from graphite. Transmission electron microscopy(TEM) images of GO and rGO showed a sheet-like morphology. Because of the presence of oxygenated functional groups on the carbon surface, the interlayer spacing of the prepared GO was higher than that of rGO. The presence of \OH and C_O groups in the Fourier transform infrared spectra(FTIR) spectrum and G-mode and 2D-mode in Raman spectra confirmed the synthesis of GO and rGO. rGO(292.6 m^2/g) showed higher surface area than that of GO(236.4 m^2/g). The prepared rGO was used as an adsorbent for benzene and toluene(model pollutants of volatile organic compounds(VOCs)) under dynamic adsorption/desorption conditions. rGO showed higher adsorption capacity and breakthrough times than GO. The adsorption capacity of rGO for benzene and toluene was 276.4 and 304.4 mg/g, respectively.Desorption experiments showed that the spent rGO can be successfully regenerated by heating at 150.0°C. Its excellent adsorption/desorption performance for benzene and toluene makes rGO a potential adsorbent for VOC adsorption.
Lian YuLong WangWeicheng XuLimin ChenMingli FuJunliang WuDaiqi Ye
Due to the low concentration of indoor air contaminants,photocatalytic technology shows low efficiency for indoor air purification.The application of TiO_2 for photocatalytic removal of formaldehyde is limited,because TiO_2 can only absorb ultraviolet(UV) light.Immobilization of TiO_2 nanoparticles on the surface of graphene can improve the visible light photocatalytic activity and the adsorption capacity.In this study,rGO(reduced graphene oxide)/TiO_2 was synthesized through a hydrothermal method using titanium tetrabutoxide and graphene oxide as precursors,and was used for the degradation of low concentration formaldehyde in indoor air under visible light illumination.Characterization of the crystalline structure and morphology of rGO/TiO_2 revealed that most GO was reduced to rGO during the hydrothermal treatment,and anatase TiO_2 nanoparticles(with particle size of 15–30 nm) were dispersed well on the surface of the rGO sheets.rGO/TiO_2 exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for degradation of formaldehyde in indoor air and this can be attributed to the role of rGO,which can act as the electron sink and transporter for separating photo-generated electron–hole pairs through interfacial charge transfer.Furthermore,rGO could adsorb formaldehyde molecules from air to produce a high concentration of formaldehyde on the surface of rGO/TiO_2.Under visible light irradiation for 240 min,the concentration of formaldehyde could be reduced to 58.5 ppbV.rGO/TiO_2 showed excellent moisture-resistance behavior,and after five cycles,r GO/TiO_2 maintained high photocatalytic activity for the removal of formaldehyde(84.6%).This work suggests that the synthesized rGO/TiO_2 is a promising photocatalyst for indoor formaldehyde removal.
Activated carbon (AC) supported silver catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation method and their catalytic performance for CO preferential oxidation (PROX) in excess H2 was evaluated. Ag/AC catalysts, after reduction in H2 at low temperatures (≤200℃) following heat treatment in He at 200℃ (He200H200), exhibited the best catalytic properties. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) results indicated that silver oxides were produced during heat treatment in He at 200℃ which were reduced to metal silver nanoparticles in H2 at low temperatures (≤200℃), simultaneously generating the adsorbed water/OH. CO conversion was enhanced 40% after water treatment following heat treatment in He at 600℃. These results imply that the metal silver nanoparticles are the active species and the adsorbed water/OH has noticeable promotion effects on CO oxidation. However, the promotion effect is still limited compared to gold catalysts under the similar conditions, which may be the reason of low selectivity to CO oxidation in PROX over silver catalysts. The reported Ag/AC-S-He catalyst after He200H200 treatment displayed similar PROX of CO reaction properties to Ag/SiO2 . This means that Ag/AC catalyst is also an efficient low-temperature CO oxidation catalyst.
MnOx(0.4)-CeO2 was investigated for soot oxidation assisted with a pulse dielectric barrier discharge(DBD).The catalysts were evaluated and characterized with TPO(temperature programmed oxidation),X-ray diffraction(XRD),Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS).The ignition temperature Ti for soot oxidation decreased from 240.8 to 216.4 oC with the increase of the pulse DBD frequencies from 50 to 400 Hz,lower than that of the case without pulse DBD present(253.4 oC).The results of XRD,Raman and XPS agreed well with the TPO activities of MnOx(0.4)-CeO2 towards soot oxidation.More solid solution of ceria and manganese,and surface reactive species including O2–,O– and Mn4+ were responsible for the enhancement of soot oxidation due to pulse DBD injection in the present study.For solid solution favors to the activation and transformation of those species,which are believed to be involved in the soot oxidation in a hybrid catalysis-plasma.
Anatase TiO_2 nanosheets(-ns-) with dominant exposed {001} facets were used as support to load copper,and the synthesized Cu/TiO_2-ns catalysts were evaluated for CO_2 hydrogenation to methanol. Under the reaction conditions, P = 3.0 MPa, T = 260 ℃, V(N_2):V(H_2):V(CO_2) = 8:69:23 and gas hourly space velocity(GHSV) = 3600 mL g^(-1)h^(-1), the methanol yield reached an appealing high value, 5.6%. Copper-loading amount, calcination temperature and reduction atmosphere have been investigated in this work, which significantly influence the particle sizes of copper and/or the defect concentration in TiO_2, then leading to different catalytic performance. Characterizations of XRD, EPR, CO_2-TPD and FTIR demonstrate that higher specific surface area of Cu is good for the hydrogenation of CO_2 and adequate amount of Ti^(3+) plays important roles in CO_2 activation. Both of them facilitate high turnover frequency(TOF) of methanol formation.
