Thesis supervisor: Ottó Horváth
co-supervisor: Erzsébet Szabóné Bárdos
Location of studies (in Hungarian): Institute of Chemistry Abbreviation of location of studies: PE-KI
Description of the research topic:
Surface waters are polluted with considerable amounts of toxic or dangerous materials (mostly of industrial origins, which cannot be appropriately removed by conventional cleaning technologies). Hence, increasing demands have arisen to develop new procedures, which are environmentally friendly, using little or no chemical additives, economical and efficient against a wide range of organic compounds. Photocatalytic methods proved to be suitable for the treatment of waters polluted with various organic and inorganic contaminants. TiO2 is the most frequently utilized photocatalyst due to its large surface area, high chemical stability, high catalytic activity, and low cost. However, one of the drawbacks of TiO2 is that it can only be activated by UV illumination, due to its wide band-gap energy (3.0 eV for rutile phase and 3.2 eV for anatase phase), therefore it can utilize only a small part of the sunlight’s energy. Hence, considerable efforts have been made to extend the sensitivity of this catalyst towards the visible-light region. A visible-light active photocatalyst can be more effective in energetical sense and as an indoor application also self-cleaning and antibacterial surfaces could be realized. Extension of the catalysts’ photoactivity into the visible range will be realized by doping titanium dioxide with corresponding non-metals (N, S, B, F) using sol-gel method, completed by surface treatment (e.g. by deposition of metals (Ag, Fe, Mn). Doping with non-metals such as nitrogen seems to be a viable approach in order to extend the light absorption of TiO2 into the visible range. Nitrogen has been proven and considered as an effective dopant to narrow the band-gap energy due to its atomic size comparable to that of oxygen, high electronegativity and ionization energy, marked thermal stability, and cost-effectiveness.
The applicant will prepare various photocatalysts modificated with N for degradation of pollutants.
The application of these catalysts for efficient degradation of selected organic pollutants, including the elucidation of the degradation mechanisms will also be carried out in the frame of this research.
Required language skills: angol Number of students who can be accepted: 1
Deadline for application: 2021-08-31
2024. IV. 17. ODT ülés Az ODT következő ülésére 2024. június 14-én, pénteken 10.00 órakor kerül sor a Semmelweis Egyetem Szenátusi termében (Bp. Üllői út 26. I. emelet).
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