The invention aims to provide a copper mesh coated with manganese molybdate and application thereof in the separation of oil-water emulsion and degradation of organic pollutants in water. A large amount of nano-scale manganese molybdates are grown on the surface of a copper mesh through a two-step hydrothermal method. Thereby, a multifunctional composite material is prepared, which can effectively separate oil-water emulsion and degrade organic pollutants in water. The copper mesh has good recyclability. Most of all, the product is suitable for industrial production to achieve the purpose of treating water pollution.

The present invention relates to a new method for creating nanopores in single layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS.sub.2) nanosheets (NSs) by the electrospray deposition (ESD) of silver ions on a water suspension of the former. Electrospray deposited silver ions react with the MoS.sub.2 NSs at the liquid-air interface resulting in Ag.sub.2S nanoparticles (NPs) which goes into the solution leaving the NSs with holes of 3-5 nm diameter. Specific reaction with the S of MoS.sub.2 NSs leads to Mo-rich edges. Such Mo-rich defects are highly efficient for the generation of active oxygen species such as H.sub.2O.sub.2, under visible light, which causes efficient disinfection of water. The holey MoS.sub.2 NSs shows 10.sup.5 times higher efficiency in disinfection compared to normal MoS.sub.2 NSs. Developed a conceptual prototype and tested with multiple bacterial strains and a viral strain, demonstrating the utility of the method for practical applications.

The invention relates to a method of preparing titanium dioxide-coated nanostars. Titanium precursors are hydrolyzed into crystalline TiO.sub.2 polymorphs at low temperatures, allowing the delicate morphology of the nanostars to be preserved while maintaining their desirable photocatalytic properties.

The present invention disclosed preparation method of a visible-light-driven CC@SnS.sub.2/SnO.sub.2 composite catalyst, and application thereof, comprising the following steps: preparing CC@SnS.sub.2 composite material in a solvent by using SnCl.sub.4.5H.sub.2O and C.sub.2H.sub.5NS as raw materials and carbon fiber cloth as a supporting material; calcining said CC@SnS.sub.2 composite material to obtain the visible-light-driven CC@SnS.sub.2/SnO.sub.2 composite catalyst. The present invention overcomes defects of the traditional methods of treating chromium-containing wastewater, including chemical precipitation, adsorption, ion exchange resin and electrolysis, and the photocatalytic technology can make full use of solar light source or artificial light source without adding adsorbent or reducing agent. In this case, the use of semiconductor photocatalyst to convert hexavalent chromium in chromium wastewater into less toxic and easily precipitated trivalent chromium greatly reduces the cost and energy consumption.

Provided is a silica titania composite aerogel particle including a base particle in which an element ratio Si/Ti of silicon to titanium is greater than 0 and equal to or lower than 6. A BET specific surface area of the silica titania composite particle is within a range of 200 m.sup.2/g to 1200 m.sup.2/g, and the silica titania composite particle has absorption at wavelengths of 450 nm and 750 nm.

A silica-titania composite aerogel particle includes: a base particle including silicon and titanium whose element ratio Si/Ti is more than 0 and 6 or less; and a surface layer present on the base particle and including a metal compound having a metal atom and a hydrocarbon group. The silica-titania composite aerogel particle has absorption at wavelengths of 450 nm and 750 nm in a visible absorption spectrum, has a BET specific surface area in the range of 200 m.sup.2/g to 1,200 m.sup.2/g, and has a value A in the range of 0.03 to 0.3. The value A is calculated by formula: A=(peak intensity of CO bond+peak intensity of CO bond)/(peak intensity of CC bond+peak intensity of CC bond). The peak intensity is obtained from a C is XPS spectrum.

Catalysts, catalytic systems and related synthetic methods for in situ production of H.sub.2O.sub.2 and use thereof in reaction with oxidizable substrates.

The synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs)/meso-porous silicon (PSi) nanocomposite and its effective use as efficient chemical sensor and photocatalyst are described. The PSi was prepared via a simple stain etching of Si microparticles in HF/HNO.sub.3 aqueous solution, followed by the deposition of AgNPs onto stain etched PSi by the immersion plating technique. The resultant nanocomposite is used successfully for (i) enhanced electro-oxidation and quantification of ascorbic acid (AA) on modified glassy carbon electrode and (ii) for the photo-reduction of hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) to trivalent Cr(III) under direct visible light irradiation in the presence of citric acid.

Disclosed herein are phase change materials microencapsulated by a microcapsule having two shells, the first shell (directly encapsulating the phase change material) being an organic polymeric material and the second shell (an outer shell) being made from a doped TiO.sub.2 material. The microcapsules disclosed herein may be particularly useful for improving the energy efficiency of indoor environments, as well as providing compositions that they are applied to (e.g. paints) with self-cleaning properties.

Mixed-phase TiO.sub.2 nanofibers prepared via a sol-gel technique followed by electrospinning and calcination are provided as photocatalysts. The calcination temperature is adjusted to control the rutile phase fraction in TiO.sub.2 nanofibers relative to the anatase phase. Post-calcined TiO.sub.2 nanofibers composed of 38 wt % rutile and 62 wt % anatase exhibited the highest initial rate constant of UV photocatalysis. This can be attributed to the combined influences of the fibers' specific surface areas and their phase compositions.