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Photocatalytic Activity: Experimental Features to Report in Heterogeneous Photocatalysis

Heterogeneous photocatalysis is a prominent area of research with major applications in solar energy conversion, air pollution mitigation, and removal of contaminants from water. A large number of scientific papers related to the photocatalysis field and its environmental applications are published...

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Autores principales: Hoque, Md. Ariful, Guzman, Marcelo I.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6213138/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30326644
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma11101990
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author Hoque, Md. Ariful
Guzman, Marcelo I.
author_facet Hoque, Md. Ariful
Guzman, Marcelo I.
author_sort Hoque, Md. Ariful
collection PubMed
description Heterogeneous photocatalysis is a prominent area of research with major applications in solar energy conversion, air pollution mitigation, and removal of contaminants from water. A large number of scientific papers related to the photocatalysis field and its environmental applications are published in different journals specializing in materials and nanomaterials. However, many problems exist in the conception of papers by authors unfamiliar with standard characterization methods of photocatalysts as well as with the procedures needed to determine photocatalytic activities based on the determination of “apparent quantum efficiencies” within a wavelength interval or “apparent quantum yields” in the case of using monochromatic light. In this regard, an astonishing number of recent research articles include claims of highly efficient (photo)catalysts or similar terms about materials with superior or enhanced efficiency for a given reaction without proper experimental support. Consequently, the comparison of the efficiencies of photocatalysts may result as being meaningless, especially when reports are only based on expressions determining (1) a reaction rate per weight of catalyst or its surface area, (2) quantum efficiencies or quantum yields, and (3) turnover frequencies or turnover numbers. Herein, we summarize the standards needed for reporting valuable data in photocatalysis and highlight some common discrepancies found in the literature. This work should inform researchers interested in reporting photocatalysis projects about the correct procedures for collecting experimental data and properly characterizing the materials by providing examples and key supporting literature.
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spelling pubmed-62131382018-11-14 Photocatalytic Activity: Experimental Features to Report in Heterogeneous Photocatalysis Hoque, Md. Ariful Guzman, Marcelo I. Materials (Basel) Concept Paper Heterogeneous photocatalysis is a prominent area of research with major applications in solar energy conversion, air pollution mitigation, and removal of contaminants from water. A large number of scientific papers related to the photocatalysis field and its environmental applications are published in different journals specializing in materials and nanomaterials. However, many problems exist in the conception of papers by authors unfamiliar with standard characterization methods of photocatalysts as well as with the procedures needed to determine photocatalytic activities based on the determination of “apparent quantum efficiencies” within a wavelength interval or “apparent quantum yields” in the case of using monochromatic light. In this regard, an astonishing number of recent research articles include claims of highly efficient (photo)catalysts or similar terms about materials with superior or enhanced efficiency for a given reaction without proper experimental support. Consequently, the comparison of the efficiencies of photocatalysts may result as being meaningless, especially when reports are only based on expressions determining (1) a reaction rate per weight of catalyst or its surface area, (2) quantum efficiencies or quantum yields, and (3) turnover frequencies or turnover numbers. Herein, we summarize the standards needed for reporting valuable data in photocatalysis and highlight some common discrepancies found in the literature. This work should inform researchers interested in reporting photocatalysis projects about the correct procedures for collecting experimental data and properly characterizing the materials by providing examples and key supporting literature. MDPI 2018-10-15 /pmc/articles/PMC6213138/ /pubmed/30326644 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma11101990 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Concept Paper
Hoque, Md. Ariful
Guzman, Marcelo I.
Photocatalytic Activity: Experimental Features to Report in Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
title Photocatalytic Activity: Experimental Features to Report in Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
title_full Photocatalytic Activity: Experimental Features to Report in Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
title_fullStr Photocatalytic Activity: Experimental Features to Report in Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
title_full_unstemmed Photocatalytic Activity: Experimental Features to Report in Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
title_short Photocatalytic Activity: Experimental Features to Report in Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
title_sort photocatalytic activity: experimental features to report in heterogeneous photocatalysis
topic Concept Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6213138/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30326644
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma11101990
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