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Enhanced TiO2broadband photocatalytic activity based on very small upconversion nanosystems

Maryam Sadat, M ; Sharif University of Technology | 2021

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c01403
  3. Publisher: American Chemical Society , 2021
  4. Abstract:
  5. Efficient sunlight harvesting is of great significance for environmental remediation through photocatalysis. Herein, very small (20 nm) upconverter SrF2:Yb,Tm@CaF2:Yb@Fluorine-doped TiO2heteronanoparticles (denoted as UCNPs@TiO2) with strong UV-blue emission and broadband photocatalytic performance were prepared via a facile three-step hydrothermal method for the first time. The SrF2:Yb,Tm upconverter nanoparticles (NPs) were produced as the light-emitting core, epitaxially grown CaF2:Yb as the middle shell to enhance the upconversion luminescence output and TiO2as the photocatalyst outermost layer. Superior photocatalytic functioning of UCNPs@TiO2was affirmed through methylene blue (MB) degradation under illumination by 980 nm laser light and different bands of simulated solar light, referring to TiO2P25. This study authenticates that the visible and NIR bands of simulated solar light could stimulate proper photocatalytic performance in the presence of UCNPs@TiO2due to F-doping of TiO2and upconversion nanoparticle (UCNP) integration, respectively. Furthermore, the efficacious reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation ability of UCNPs@TiO2was verified under NIR light, suggesting their applicability as photodynamic therapy (PDT) agents. The resulting heteronanoparticles hold the privileges of wide-spectrum-light harvesting, effective energy transfer between constituent upconversion core and TiO2layer, and reduced electron-hole recombination, indicating their strong potential applications in photocatalysis, solar cells, and PDT. © 2021 American Chemical Society
  6. Keywords:
  7. Calcium fluoride ; Energy transfer ; Fluorspar ; Infrared devices ; Light ; Light emission ; Nanoparticles ; Organic polymers ; Oxide minerals ; Photocatalytic activity ; Photodynamic therapy ; Solar cells ; Thulium compounds ; Titanium dioxide ; Ytterbium compounds ; Electron-hole recombination ; Environmental remediation ; Hydrothermal methods ; Photocatalytic performance ; Photodynamic therapy (PDT) ; Simulated solar light ; Up-conversion luminescence ; Upconversion nanoparticles ; TiO2 nanoparticles
  8. Source: Journal of Physical Chemistry C ; Volume 125, Issue 25 , 2021 , Pages 13788-13801 ; 19327447 (ISSN)
  9. URL: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c01403