Novel cyanate intercalated CoBi layered double hydroxide for ultimate charge separation and superior water splitting

Recent Breakthrough in Layered Double Hydroxides and Their Applications in Petroleum, Green Energy, and Environmental Remediation

“…TiO 2 is the most common and first applied semiconductor in photocatalysis [12], as it is naturally abundant, environmentally friendly, and chemically stable, and it can be synthesized by versatile preparation routes in various morphologies [1,5]. However, photocatalysis by pure TiO 2 is rare, which restricts its work in the UV-region to including only 5% of sunlight radiation [1,5] due to its wide bandgap (3.2 eV) and the fast recombination of the electrons/hole pairs [1,5].…”

“…TiO 2 is the most common and first applied semiconductor in photocatalysis [12], as it is naturally abundant, environmentally friendly, and chemically stable, and it can be synthesized by versatile preparation routes in various morphologies [1,5]. However, photocatalysis by pure TiO 2 is rare, which restricts its work in the UV-region to including only 5% of sunlight radiation [1,5] due to its wide bandgap (3.2 eV) and the fast recombination of the electrons/hole pairs [1,5]. To overcome these drawbacks, many efforts have been made to prepare modified TiO 2 structures, such as Pt-modified TiO 2 [13], Aumodified TiO 2 [14], Ag-modified TiO 2 [15], perovskite (CaTi, SrTi, BaTi)-modified TiO 2 [16], Carbon-modified TiO 2 [17], metal (Co, Ni, Zn)-modified TiO 2 [18], TiN-composites [19], graphine/TiO 2 nanoparticles [20], titania/hydroxyapatite (TiO2/HAp) composites [21], and silica modified titania (TiO 2 -SiO 2 ) [22], etc.…”

“…Bismuth oxides (BiO x ) are highly active n-type semiconductors, and there is worldwide attention now for employing advanced BiO x -nanostructures for green energy production and environmental remediation [1]. The high photocatalytic activities of BiO x have allowed their applications with other semiconductors, such as CoO x and TiO 2 , for enhanced water splitting to O 2 and/or H 2 [1,5].…”

“…LDHs have great surface areas due to their low dimension, infinite lamellar (layered) structure, and very small particle sizes. According to the IUPAC classification, LDHs usually exhibits IV-type isotherms, with H3 hysteresis loop characteristics for the mesoporous materials [1,6]. Although LDHs exhibit usual IV-type isotherms, the values of their surface area are variable.…”

“…Nowadays, huge amounts of energy have been consumed to make the world civilization flourishing and continuous. Petroleum (crude oil) was the main source of energy for more than one century [1], and it is considered that it will play this role for further decades. Crude oil is a naturally occurring source of energy that consists mainly of hydrocarbons (from C 5 to C 40+ , Figure 1) with minor portions of S, O 2 , and N 2 compounds [2,3].…”