Carbon Nanosphere Adsorbents for Removal of Arsenate and Selenate From Water

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Description

Porous carbon nanospheres prepared using spray pyrolysis were evaluated as adsorbents for removal of arsenate and selenate in de-ionized (DI), canal, and well waters. The carbon nanospheres displayed good binding to both metals in DI water and outperformed commercial activated

Porous carbon nanospheres prepared using spray pyrolysis were evaluated as adsorbents for removal of arsenate and selenate in de-ionized (DI), canal, and well waters. The carbon nanospheres displayed good binding to both metals in DI water and outperformed commercial activated carbons for arsenate removal in pH > 8, likely due to the presence of basic surface functional groups, high surface-to-volume ratio, and suitable micropores formed during the synthesis.

Date Created
2015-03-14
Agent

Electrochemical and photoelectrochemical properties of the copper hydroxyphosphate mineral libethenite

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Description
There has been much interest in photoelectrochemical conversion of solar energy in recent years due to its potential for low-–cost, sustainable and renewable production of fuels. Despite the huge potential, there are still a number of technical barriers due to

There has been much interest in photoelectrochemical conversion of solar energy in recent years due to its potential for low-–cost, sustainable and renewable production of fuels. Despite the huge potential, there are still a number of technical barriers due to the many constraints needed in order to drive photoelectrochemical reactions such as overall water splitting and the identification of efficient and effective semiconductor materials. To this end, the search for novel semiconductors that can act as light absorbers is still needed. The copper hydroxyphosphate mineral libethenite (CHP), which has a chemical formula of Cu2(OH)PO4, has been recently shown to be active for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue under UV-–irradiation, indicating that photo-excited electrons and holes can effectively be generated and separated in this material. However, CHP has not been well studied and many of its fundamental electrochemical and photoelectrochemical properties are still unknown. In this work, the synthesis of different morphologies of CHP using hydrothermal synthesis and precipitation methods were explored. Additionally, a preliminary investigation of the relevant fundamental characteristics such as the bandgap, flatband potential, band diagram, electrochemical and photoelectrochemical properties for CHP was performed. Better understanding of the properties of this material may lead to the development of improved catalysts and photocatalysts from natural sources.
Date Created
2013
Agent