Plasma processing of photocatalysts can conveniently
change the
surface chemistry, introducing extrinsic or intrinsic surface doping,
holding promise to make photocatalysts more active without altering
the bulk properties. While gas plasma has long been employed to process
photocatalysts, it is hard to avoid the surface dry etching caused
by the high-energy charged ions in the plasma with a long mean free
path, which results in excessive defects or even deactivation dependent
on the kind of photocatalyst. Herein, we propose an innovative alcohol
solution plasma approach to process the benchmarked Degussa P25-TiO2 photocatalyst. By virtue of the short mean free path of charged
ions in the solution phase, high plasma density, and additional hydrogen
doping, the alcohol plasma processing renders the surface amorphization
of TiO2 particles and diminishes surface oxygen vacancies.
A 124-fold increase of photocatalytic H2 evolution is achieved
after alcohol solution plasma processing, which is attributed to the
surface-amorphization-induced decrease in surface deep electron traps
and upshifted energy level of electron traps. The alcohol solution
plasma processing also outperforms water plasma processing and highlights
a promising strategy of modulation of surface electronic properties
for photocatalysis.
Edible and medicinal plants (EMPs) are widely used but are easily infected by harmful fungi which produce mycotoxins. Herein, 127 samples from 11 provinces were collected to investigate 15 mycotoxins based on geographic, demographic, processing, and risk characteristics. A total of 13 mycotoxins were detected, and aflatoxin B1 (0.56~97.00 μg/kg), deoxynivalenol (9.41~1570.35 μg/kg), fumonisin B1 (8.25~1875.77 μg/kg), fumonisin B2 (2.74~543.01 μg/kg), ochratoxin A (0.62~19.30 μg/kg), and zearalenone (1.64~2376.58 μg/kg) occurred more frequently. Mycotoxin levels and species were significantly different by region, types of EMPs, and method of processing. The margin of exposure (MOE) values was well below the safe MOE (10,000). AFB1 exposure from Coix seed and malt consumption in China was of high health concern. The hazard Index (HI) method showed the range of 113.15~130.73% for malt, indicating a public health concern. In conclusion, EMPs should be concerned because of the cumulative effects of co-occurred mycotoxins, and safety management strategies should be developed in follow-up studies.
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