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Ni/SrTiO3Nanoparticles for Photodegradation of Methylene Blue

Girotto, Gustavo Z. LU orcid ; S. Thill, Alisson ; Matte, Lívia P. ; Vogt, Marco A.H. ; Machado, Thiago V. ; Luis, Luis F. ; Mesquita, Fabiano and Bernardi, Fabiano (2022) In ACS Applied Nano Materials 5(9). p.13295-13307
Abstract

Dyes are routinely used in the textile and pharmaceutical industries, causing serious environmental issues by decreasing water quality. Photocatalysts are used for dye degradation, and different acting mechanisms may occur during the photodegradation process. In this study, Ni nanoparticles were heated to selected temperatures up to 500 °C under an ambient atmosphere and subsequently supported on SrTiO3. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, small-angle X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Mott-Schottky, in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and in situ time-resolved XAS at the Ni K edge during thermal treatment. In addition to improving the photodegradation of... (More)

Dyes are routinely used in the textile and pharmaceutical industries, causing serious environmental issues by decreasing water quality. Photocatalysts are used for dye degradation, and different acting mechanisms may occur during the photodegradation process. In this study, Ni nanoparticles were heated to selected temperatures up to 500 °C under an ambient atmosphere and subsequently supported on SrTiO3. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, small-angle X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Mott-Schottky, in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and in situ time-resolved XAS at the Ni K edge during thermal treatment. In addition to improving the photodegradation of methylene blue compared with SrTiO3 alone, there was a direct association between the Ni oxidation state and the atomic mechanism of photodegradation. Thermal treatments of Ni nanoparticles up to 300 °C induce surface reconstruction of SrTiO3 during the photodegradation reaction and can dissociate H2O molecules into OH• radicals, which act as oxidizing agents of methylene blue dye. Conversely, thermal treatment of Ni nanoparticles at 500 °C allows the fabrication of a NiO/SrTiO3 heterojunction, which promotes efficient methylene blue degradation due to improved electron-hole pair separation. Controlling the acting mechanism of photocatalysts could pave the way for the research of photocatalysts with improved photodegradation activity.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
methylene blue, nanoparticles, photodegradation, XAS, XPS
in
ACS Applied Nano Materials
volume
5
issue
9
pages
13 pages
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85138056322
ISSN
2574-0970
DOI
10.1021/acsanm.2c03007
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2022 American Chemical Society.
id
512e3bfa-7fde-45cf-9265-01ebbe0ba67b
date added to LUP
2025-10-10 12:48:03
date last changed
2025-10-17 13:51:00
@article{512e3bfa-7fde-45cf-9265-01ebbe0ba67b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Dyes are routinely used in the textile and pharmaceutical industries, causing serious environmental issues by decreasing water quality. Photocatalysts are used for dye degradation, and different acting mechanisms may occur during the photodegradation process. In this study, Ni nanoparticles were heated to selected temperatures up to 500 °C under an ambient atmosphere and subsequently supported on SrTiO3. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, small-angle X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Mott-Schottky, in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and in situ time-resolved XAS at the Ni K edge during thermal treatment. In addition to improving the photodegradation of methylene blue compared with SrTiO3 alone, there was a direct association between the Ni oxidation state and the atomic mechanism of photodegradation. Thermal treatments of Ni nanoparticles up to 300 °C induce surface reconstruction of SrTiO3 during the photodegradation reaction and can dissociate H2O molecules into OH• radicals, which act as oxidizing agents of methylene blue dye. Conversely, thermal treatment of Ni nanoparticles at 500 °C allows the fabrication of a NiO/SrTiO3 heterojunction, which promotes efficient methylene blue degradation due to improved electron-hole pair separation. Controlling the acting mechanism of photocatalysts could pave the way for the research of photocatalysts with improved photodegradation activity.</p>}},
  author       = {{Girotto, Gustavo Z. and S. Thill, Alisson and Matte, Lívia P. and Vogt, Marco A.H. and Machado, Thiago V. and Luis, Luis F. and Mesquita, Fabiano and Bernardi, Fabiano}},
  issn         = {{2574-0970}},
  keywords     = {{methylene blue; nanoparticles; photodegradation; XAS; XPS}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{13295--13307}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{ACS Applied Nano Materials}},
  title        = {{Ni/SrTiO<sub>3</sub>Nanoparticles for Photodegradation of Methylene Blue}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.2c03007}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/acsanm.2c03007}},
  volume       = {{5}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}