New carbon/ZnO/Li2O nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Our study was focused on the synthesis of photocatalytic materials for the degradation of organic dyes based on the valorization of biomass resources. The biochar resulted from pyrolysis process of cherry pits wastes was activated by CO2 flow. Activated and inactivated carbon was used to obtain carbon-based photocatalysts impregnated with different zinc salt precursors. The activation of carbon had no significant influence on the photodegradation process. The doping procedure used Li2CO3 and Zn(CH3COO)2 of different concentrations to impregnate the biochar. The carbon-ZnO-Li2O based nanomaterials were analysed by TEM and SEM, while the presence of hexagonal wurtzite ZnO was investigated by XRD. The solid samples were analysed by PL at 360 nm excitation fixed wavelength to correlate their morphology with the optical and photocatalytic properties. The presence of Li atoms led to photocatalytic activities of the doped ZnO similar to the undoped ZnO obtained at higher concentrations of zinc acetate precursor.

Effect of Zinc Oxide on the Efficiency Enhancement of Al/Li2O/PSi/Si/Al solar cell

“…New oxide-based catalytic materials are particularly suitable for environmentally sustainable processes and for the reduction in manufacturing costs of modern catalysis [34]. This study represents an excellent premise to obtain less expensive photo catalysts using ZnO and Li 2 O to build heterogeneous structures to increase charge separation e ciency by creating photo catalysts with high e ciency and improved response capacity to visible light [35]. All results indicate that the sandwich structure of the ZnO: [38,39], the reason is to achieve good lateral conduction of electrons and holes through the material.…”

Physicochemical Characterization of Cherry Pits-Derived Biochar

“…All measurements were performed in triplicate. The resulting concentrations of carboxyl, lactone, phenolic, and total base surface functional groups were calculated by the following mathematical relationships, following Equations ( 4)- (6):…”

“…Thermal stability, homogenous surface morphology, low toxicity hazard, and high porosity and, thus, specific surface area of activated carbon predetermine its various applications in technological processes [5]. However, the cost of activated carbon production is relatively high, mainly due to post-production activation processes by chemical and physical methods [6]. The thermochemical conversion of feedstocks into new and innovative value-added products can be accomplished by several processes such as torrefaction, pyrolysis, hydrothermal carbonization, combustion, and gasification [7].…”

“…The authors studied the pyrolysis product in filtration experiments with its subsequent application as a soil fertilizer. Diacon et al [6] showed the potential utilization of chemically activated cherry pits-derived biochar as carbon-based photocatalysts impregnated with different zinc salt precursors.…”