Zinc Porphyrin-Functionalized Fullerenes for the Sensitization of Titania as a Visible-Light Active Photocatalyst: River Waters and Wastewaters Remediation

Abstract

Zinc porphyrin-functionalized fullerene [C60] derivatives have been synthesized and used to prepare titania-based composites. The electrochemical properties and HOMO and LUMO levels of the photosensitizers were determined by electrochemical measurements. Raman and IR techniques were used to study chemical groups present on the titania surface. Absorption properties of the composites were measured in the solid state by diffuse reflectance UV-Vis spectra (DRS). The zeta potential and aggregate sizes were determined using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and electrophoretic light scattering (ELS) techniques. Surface areas were estimated based on Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) isotherms. The photocatalytic activity of the photocatalysts was tested using two model pollutants, phenol and methylene blue. The composite with the highest photocatalytic potential (1/TiO2) was used for river and wastewater remediation. The photodegradation intermediates were identified by LC-UV/Vis-MS/MS techniques.

Superior Adsorption and Photocatalytic Degradation Capability of Mesoporous LaFeO3/g-C3N4 for Removal of Oxytetracycline

“…Up to now, several methods, such as biodegradation [4], adsorption [5] and photocatalytic degradation, have been utilized to remove antibiotic pollutants in water. The photocatalysis can be satisfactory applied for decontamination of natural samples through the photocatalytic degradation of toxic pollutants from complex matrices like river waters and waste waters [6]. Oxytetracycline (OTC) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic commonly applied to aquaculture and veterinary medicine, which is mainly excreted in unchanged and active forms in effluents of surface water [7,8].…”

Distance‐Dependent Electron Transfer Kinetics in Axially Connected Silicon Phthalocyanine‐Fullerene Conjugates

“…These yields are comparable to those obtained in the preparation of similar compounds when a classical-heating method is employed and using long reaction times (> 12 h). [8,29,30,32,34,38,39] Finally, C 60 -SiPc-C 60 1 and C 60 -SiPc-C 60 2 are obtained through a double Prato's reaction, with sarcosine as nitrogen source and obtaining, both compounds, in a 29-30 % yield. It is worth to note that, in this step, an excess of pristine C 60 is used and the reaction time is limited to 1 h, to minimize the formation of polyadducts.…”

“…[24] That is why donor-acceptor arrangements based on porphyrin/phthalocyanine and C 60 -fullerene, represent an outstanding majority. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] In the context of donor-acceptor design, there are few examples of covalent multimodular artificial photosynthetic systems, where electron-acceptor units are arranged in the axial positions of a suitable porphyrinoid macrocycle, thus providing molecular systems that undergo photo-induced electron transfer processes in a very efficient way. [19,[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] One of the most versatile building-blocks is silicon phthalocyanine (SiPc), which can be easily functionalized at axial positions through a variety of functionalities.…”

Nanostructural catalyst: metallophthalocyanine and carbon nano-onion with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity towards organic pollutants

“…[1][2][3] Various systems have been studied and employed as photocatalysts in the past few decades. 4,5 Among these studied photocatalysts, carbon materials, [6][7][8] , organic derivatives or composites, [9][10][11][12][13] metal oxides, 14 inorganic nanoparticles and nanocrystals 15,16 and hybrid materials combining two or more components with different chemical natures have been used. 3,14,17,18 Oen, phthalocyanines (Pcs), derivatives of the aromatic tetraazaporphyrins, also appear among these systems.…”