G. Marcì

Doping semiconducting oxides, such as LaFeO3 (LF), with metallic elements is a good strategy to improve the performance of photocatalysts. In this study, LF and ten different nanopowders metal-doped at the La or Fe site of LaFeO3 were evaluated in the photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin (CP) and oxytetracycline (OTC). The following metals were used in the doping (mol%) process of LF: Pd 3% and 5%; Cu 10%; Mg 5%, 10%, and 20%; Ga 10%; Y 10% and 20%; and Sr 20%. The doped samples were synthetized using a citrate auto-combustion technique. From the X-ray diffraction (XRD) data, only a single crystalline phase, namely an orthorhombic perovskite structure, was observed except for trace amounts of PdO in the sample with Pd 5%. The specific surface area (SSA) ranged from 9 m2 g−1 (Ga 10%) to 20 m2 g−1 (Mg 20%). SEM images show that all samples were constituted from agglomerates of particles whose sizes ranged from ca. 20 nm (Mg 20%) to ca. 100 nm (Pd 5%). Dilute aqueous solutions (5 × 10−6 M) prepared for both CP and OTC were irradiated for 240 min under visible-light and in the presence of H2O2 (10−2 M). The results indicate a 78% removal of OTC with Cu 10% doped LF in a phosphate buffer (pH = 5.0). The degradation of CP is affected by pH and phosphate ions, with 78% (in unbuffered solution) and 54% (in phosphate buffer, pH = 5.0) removal achieved with Mg 10% doped LF. The reactions follow a pseudo-first order kinetic. Overall, this study is expected to deepen the assessment of photocatalytic activity by using substrates with different absorption capacities on photocatalysts.

Photoreforming (PR) of biomass can be considered a viable technology under mild experimental conditions to produce hydrogen with a high reaction rate using compounds from renewable resources and waste materials. The application of biomass PR gives rise to both hydrogen generation and biomass waste valorization. The process could be scaled up to obtain hydrogen under natural sunlight irradiation, and research on polymeric carbon nitride (g-C3N4)-based photocatalysts has been widely carried out in recent years. The non-metallic-based carbon nitride materials are economical and (photo)stable polymer semiconductors, and their physicochemical surface and electronic properties are optimal for obtaining H2, which can be considered a gas that does not cause major environmental problems. Some hindrances related to their structure, such as the low absorption of visible light and the relatively high recombination rate of electron-hole pairs, restrict the performance; therefore, it is necessary to improve their activity and the yield of the reaction by modifying them in various ways. Various types of solutions have been proposed in this regard, such as, for example, their coupling with other semiconductors to form composite materials. The current mini-review aims to overview the PR field, reporting some of the most interesting papers devoted to understanding the role of g-C3N4 in biomass PR. Information on many physico-chemical aspects related to the performance of the process and possible ways to obtain better results than those present up to now in the literature will be reported.