Novel Photoactive Materials

168 Pages·2019·5.652 MB·English

by  Maria Vittoria Diamanti

Novel Photoactive
Materials
Edited by
Maria Vittoria Diamanti
Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Materials
www.mdpi.com/journal/materials
Novel Photoactive Materials

Novel Photoactive Materials
SpecialIssueEditor
MariaVittoriaDiamanti
MDPI•Basel•Beijing•Wuhan•Barcelona•Belgrade
SpecialIssueEditor
MariaVittoriaDiamanti
PolitecnicodiMilano
Italy
EditorialOffice
MDPI
St.Alban-Anlage66
4052Basel,Switzerland
ThisisareprintofarticlesfromtheSpecialIssuepublishedonlineintheopenaccessjournalMaterials
(ISSN1996-1944)in2018(availableat: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/specialissues/
novelphotoactivematerials)
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Contents
AbouttheSpecialIssueEditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
MariaVittoriaDiamanti
SpecialIssue:NovelPhotoactiveMaterials
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,2553,doi:10.3390/ma11122553 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
SeokhoKim,DoHyoungKim,JinhoChoi,HojinLee,Sun-YoungKim,JungWoonParkand
DongHyukPark
GrowthandBrilliantPhoto-EmissionofCrystallineHexagonalColumnofAlq3Microwires
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,472,doi:10.3390/ma11040472. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Manuel Salado, Laura Calio´, Lidia Contreras-Bernal, Jesus Idı´goras, Juan Antonio Anta,
ShahzadaAhmadandSamranaKazim
UnderstandingtheInfluenceofInterfaceMorphologyonthePerformanceofPerovskiteSolar
Cells
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,1073,doi:10.3390/ma11071073 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
DongyanLiu,ShanshanLi,FangBianandXiangyingMeng
First-Principles Investigation on the Electronic and Mechanical Properties of Cs-Doped
CH3NH3PbI3
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,1141,doi:10.3390/ma11071141 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
MagdalenaBrzezin´ska,PatriciaGarcı´a-Mun˜oz,AgnieszkaM.RuppertandNicolasKeller
PhotoactiveZnOMaterialsforSolarLight-InducedCuxO-ZnOCatalystPreparation
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,2260,doi:10.3390/ma11112260 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
BeatrizEugeniaSanabriaArenas,AlbertoStrini,LucaSchiavi,AndreaLiBassi,
ValeriaRusso,BarbaraDelCurto,MariaVittoriaDiamantiandMariaPiaPedeferri
PhotocatalyticActivityofNanotubularTiO2FilmsObtainedbyAnodicOxidation:
AComparisoninGasandLiquidPhase
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,488,doi:10.3390/ma11040488. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Hsu-HuiCheng,Shiao-ShingChen,Sih-YinYang,Hui-MingLiuandKuang-ShanLin
Sol-GelHydrothermalSynthesisandVisibleLightPhotocatalyticDegradationPerformanceof
Fe/NCodopedTiO2Catalysts
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,939,doi:10.3390/ma11060939. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
MaciejJanek,AleksandraRadtke,TadeuszM.Muzioł,MariaJerzykiewiczand
PiotrPiszczek
Tetranuclear Oxo-Titanium Clusters with Different Carboxylate Aromatic Ligands: Optical
Properties,DFTCalculations,andPhotoactivity
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,1661,doi:10.3390/ma11091661 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
MarcoRoveri,FrancescaGherardi,LuigiBrambilla,ChiaraCastiglioniandLuciaToniolo
Stone/CoatingInteractionandDurabilityofSi-BasedPhotocatalyticNanocompositesApplied
toPorousLithotypes
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,2289,doi:10.3390/ma11112289 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Chi-ShunTseng,TsunghsuehWuandYang-WeiLin
Facile Synthesis and Characterization of Ag3PO4 Microparticles for Degradation of Organic
DyestuffsunderWhite-LightLight-Emitting-DiodeIrradiation
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,708,doi:10.3390/ma11050708. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
v
Junping Ding, Huanchun Wang, Haomin Xu, Lina Qiao, Yidong Luo, Yuanhua Lin and
CewenNan
SynthesisandBroadbandSpectraPhotocatalyticPropertiesofBi2O2(CO3)1−xSx
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,791,doi:10.3390/ma11050791. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
DavidePalma,AlessandraBiancoPrevot,MarcelloBrigante,DeboraFabbri,
GiulianaMagnacca,ClaireRichard,GillesMailhotandRobertoNistico`
NewInsightsonthePhotodegradationofCaffeineinthePresenceofBio-Based
Substances-MagneticIronOxideHybridNanomaterials
Reprintedfrom:Materials2018,11,1084,doi:10.3390/ma11071084 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
vi
About the Special Issue Editor
Maria Vittoria Diamanti, Associate Professor: Maria Vittoria Diamanti completed a Ph.D. in
MaterialsEngineeringatPolitecnicodiMilanoin2009. SheiscurrentlyanAssociateProfessorat
theDepartmentofChemistry,MaterialsandChemicalEngineering“GiulioNatta”atPolitecnicodi
Milano,wheresheteachescementitiousandceramicmaterialsprinciplesanddurabilitytoBachelor
andMaster’sstudentsofmaterialsengineeringandnanotechnologies. In2007,MariaVittoriawas
awardedaRobertoRoccafellowshipwhichallowedhertospendaperiodasavisitingstudentat
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2012 she was appointed a visiting professor
at the Masdar Institute of Technology, Abu Dhabi with the LENS group (Laboratory for Energy
and Nano Sciences). Her research interests mostly relate to the production, characterization and
applications of nanostructured titanium oxides, either grown by electrochemical techniques on
titanium and its alloys, or as nanoparticles or sol-gel applied to different substrates as coating or
inbulk. Theversatilityoftitaniumdioxidehasallowedhertogetexpertiseindiversefields—from
photocatalysis for wastewater treatment and air quality improvement, to bioengineering, jewelry,
corrosionresistantsurfaces,theuseofmemristivematerialsforelectronics,self-cleaningandtheuse
ofphotoactivematerialsasacomplementtobuildingtechnologies—andtouseamultidisciplinary
approachtotheproduction,characterizationandapplicationoftheseoxides. MariaVittoriaisalso
involvedinresearchactivitiesonthecorrosionresistanceofsteelalloysinparticularenvironments,
suchaschloridecontainingenvironments,concreteandnewelectrolytes,suchasionicliquids.
vii

materials
Editorial
Special Issue: Novel Photoactive Materials
MariaVittoriaDiamanti
DepartmentofChemistry,MaterialsandChemicalEngineering“G.Natta”PolitecnicodiMilano,
ViaMancinelli7,20131Milan,Italy;[email protected];Tel.:[phone]
Received:28November2018;Accepted:12December2018;Published:15December2018
Abstract:Photoactivityrepresentstheabilityofamaterialtoactivatewheninteractingwithlight.
Itcanbedeclinedinmanyways,andseveralfunctionalitiesarisingfromthisbehaviorofmaterials
canbeexploited,allleadingtopositiverepercussionsonourenvironment.Thereareseveralclasses
of effects of photoactivity, all of which have been deeply investigated in the last few decades,
allowingresearcherstodevelopmoreandmoreefficientmaterialsanddevices. Thespecialissue
“NovelPhotoactiveMaterials”hasbeenproposedasameanstopresentrecentdevelopmentsinthe
field;forthisreasonthearticlesincludedtouchdifferentaspectsofphotoactivity,fromphotocatalysis
tophotovoltaicstolightemittingmaterials,ashighlightedinthiseditorial.
Keywords:photocatalysis;photovoltaics;organiclightemittingdiodes(OLEDs);TiO2;ZnO;density
functionaltheory(DFT)
Generallyspeaking,photoactivematerialsbelongtothehugefieldofphotonics,wherematerials
thatactivelyinteractwithlightaretunedandoptimizedtoachieveeffectssuchaslightemission
(LEDs and lasers, just to name the most common ones) or light detection, with related signal
amplification(e.g.,inphotomultipliers)andprocessingoperations.Alternatively,theycanbeusedto
developlight-sensitivecircuitsandswitches(suchaswithphotoresistors),ormoregenerally,toconvert
lightintoanelectricalsignal(i.e.,tobuildphotodiodes).Allofthesematerialsanddevicesarenotonly
subjectofresearch,butalreadyfinddiffuseapplicationsinoureverydaylife.
Inparticular,thelattercaseofphotodiodesincludesdeviceswithhugetechnologicalimportance
inthefieldofcleanenergyproduction,i.e.,photovoltaicdevices,whosefunctioningprincipleisbased
onthegenerationofelectricalcurrentasaconsequenceofsunlightabsorption,andspecificallyon
thejumpofelectronsfromthevalencebandtotheconductionbandwhenthephotoactivematerial
isirradiatedwithlighthavingenergyequalorhigherthematerialbandgap.Asimilarmechanism,
wherethephoto-generatedelectronsandholesareexploitedinadifferentwaytoacceleratechemical
reactions,isrelatedtoenvironmentalcleanup,asaresultofphotocatalyticdegradationofpollutants
ingasandliquidphase.Thisiscurrentlyexploitedinairpurificationdevicesandwaterremediation
reactors.Thissameeffectcanbedeclinedinasimilarmannertoachievetheso-calledself-cleaning
effect,wherethedecompositionofcontaminantscoupleswithafurtherpeculiarityofphotoinduced
superhydrophilicity,whichfindsrelevantapplicationsinbuildingmaterialsduetolowerrequirements
formaintenanceandpotentiallyhigherdurabilityofself-cleaningmaterials.
Theseeffectsshareacommonpoint,thatis,theinteractionofamaterialwithlight,althoughmany
different materials are taken into account depending on the effect desired—from elemental
semiconductorslikesilicon,tomorecomplexcompoundslikeCdTeorGaAs,tometaloxideslikeTiO2
andZnO.Giventhebroadnessofthefield,ahugenumberofworksfallwithinthistopic,andnew
areasofdiscoveryareconstantlyexplored.
Thespecialissue“NovelPhotoactiveMaterials”hasbeenproposedasameanstopresentrecent
developmentsinthefield,andforthisreasontheelevenarticlesincludedtouchdifferentaspectsof
photoactivity:abriefsummaryofthearticles’contentisgiveninthefollowing.
Materials2018,11,2553;doi:10.3390/ma11122553 1 www.mdpi.com/journal/materials