A Commemorative Issue in Honor of Professor David Ollis: A Pioneer and Mentor

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024.

Guest Editor (1)

Pierre  Pichat
Prof. Pierre Pichat 
Photocatalyse et Environnement, CNRS/Ecole Centrale de Lyon (STMS), 69134, Ecully CEDEX, France
Interests: Heterogeneous Photocatalysis; Catalysis; IR Spectroscopy; Zeolites; Photochemistry; Advanced Oxidation Processes; Environmental Chemistry

Topic Collection Information

It has been decided that Photocatalysis: Research and Potential (https://www.sciepublish.com/journals/prp) will be publishing a Special Issue to commemorate the noteworthy contributions and outstanding influence of Professor David Ollis in heterogeneous photocatalysis. David Ollis was a Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University which he joined in 1984.  He was previously a Professor at Princeton University and then at the University of California at Davis. He had a background in chemical and biochemical engineering. 

In 1992, Dr. Hussain Al-Ekabi started a series of Conferences initially called "TiO2 Photocatalytic Purification of Water and Air" and subsequently "Semiconductor Photocatalysis and Solar Energy Conversion". David Ollis and I acted as co-chairmen, and we were then joined by Professor Nick Serpone. David Ollis played this role until he regrettably passed away last October. 

All those who participated in these Conferences, which were essential in establishing a scientific community in photocatalysis, will remember David Ollis for his excellent and fruitful communications, his kind and valuable questions to speakers, and his discreet but effective contributions to the organization. Undoubtedly, through that and of course his diverse and remarkable publications on fundamental aspects and potential of photocatalysis in air and water (perhaps most noticeably on kinetics and modeling), he has had an important impact on the scientists involved in this domain.

He will be remembered as a prominent researcher by those who had the chance to meet him and listen to him, and also by the many others who read his papers. He will be greatly missed, and future Conferences of the aforementioned series will not be the same without him.

As the Editor-in-Chief of Photocatalysis: Research and Potential, I hope that many scientists in the field will volunteer to consider submitting an article to this Special Issue. The submissions do not have to be directly connected to the topics covered by David Ollis. The Journal scope is wide and can include various types of investigations in this ever-evolving research area. The objective is to illustrate how grateful the future authors are towards David Ollis for his very significant involvement in photocatalysis.

Apart from research papers and reviews, articles that develop a viewpoint or opinion on a particular subject will also be welcomed.

Manuscript Submission Information:

To submit to the issue, click here:
https://www.sciepublish.com/index/my/step1/journalsid/28.html
For more information on Author Instruction, please visit the following page:
https://www.sciepublish.com/journals/prp/instructions

The submission deadline is 30 December 2024, papers will be published on an ongoing basis (i.e., immediately after acceptance and proofreading), with a clear mention of the issue honoring Professor David Ollis. An earlier submission would be appreciated. However, if need be, please feel free to let us know if your need an extension.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Article

11 April 2024

Exploring Bi4V2O11 as Photoanode for Water Splitting with a Wide Range of Solar Light Capture and Suitable Band Potential

Bi4V2O11 possesses a bandgap of ~1.9 eV, and the band positions of minimum conduction band and maximum valence band straddle the redox potentials of H+/H2 and O2/H2O. In the current work, photoanode made of particulate Bi4V2O11 film displays a wide range of light adsorption. However, when the anode was fabricated by drop-casting and examined for photoelectrochemical water splitting, the photocurrent density of the pristine Bi4V2O11 was low. Improvement has then been carried out by Mo-doping. The Mo-doped Bi4V2O11 photoanode achieves a maximum photocurrent density of 0.3 mA/cm2 after a post deposition necking treatment to improve the connectivity of the drop-cast particles in the film. This material also shows a stability with maintaining 80% photocurrent after 2 h test. Discussion has been made on the displayed performance in PEC water splitting of the Bi4V2O11 materials. Potential solutions have been proposed for this type of promising photoanode material for water splitting.

Xin Zhao
Ningsi Zhang
Yang  Yu
Tao Fang
Jun Hu*
Jianyong Feng*
Zhong Chen*

Article

23 April 2024

Visible Light-Driven H2O2 Photoelectrocatalytic Synthesis Over a Tandem Electrode Strategy

Photocatalytic synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) can be an environmentally friendly and energy-saving solution. However, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) rate is limited due to the low solubility of O2 in water. In this study, a modified BiVO4 (BVO) photoanode combined with an Sn-coordinated phthalocyanine gas diffusion electrode (SnPc-GDE) was employed for the synthesis of H2O2, and the oxy-gen reduction reaction rate was increased through a unique three-phase interface system. When visible light was irradiated on the BVO photoanode, the hole-electron pairs were excited and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) was driven through the holes, and the excited electrons were transferred to the SnPc-GDE to reduce O2 for the synthesis of H2O2. Oxygen vacancy enrichment on the BVO electrode was achieved by photoetching and annealing under an N2 atmosphere, which effectively improved the carrier separation efficiency. Complexation with a WO3 layer formed a built-in electric field, which further promoted the electron-hole pair separation. The SnPc catalyst-modified GDE electrode has the best selectivity for ORR and remains stable during long-term reactions. Under bias-free conditions, the generation rate of H2O2 reached 952.5 μM·L−1·h−1, with a Faradaic efficiency of 48.4%. This study provided a practical strategy for designing a highly efficient BVO/SnPc-GDE photoelectrochemical system to produce H2O2 based on improvement in electron-hole transmission efficiency and product selectivity.

Chao Chen
Nakata  Takumu
Wenan Cai
Qitao Zhang*
Teruhisa Ohno*

Article

28 August 2024

Photocatalytic and Photothermal Catalytic Oxidation of Ethene and Ethanol Using TiO2-Based Catalysts under UV-C and UV-A Irradiation

Photocatalytic (PCO) and photothermocatalytic oxidation (PTCO) of ethene (C2H4) and ethanol (EtOH) are investigated using TiO2 and 1%Pt/TiO2 coating on velvet glass support in the presence of UV-A and UV-C irradiation. Both VOC are efficiently mineralised under UV-A irradiation and PCO, but the presence of Pt has a minor impact on their transformation. Instead, there is only a slight increase in the disappearance of EtOH and the formation of acetaldehyde, which are already observed in the dark. Surprisingly, when a higher photon flux is emitted with a UV-C lamp, photocatalytic disappearance and mineralisation of EtOH are less effective than under UV-A irradiation in the presence or absence of Pt. Similar behaviour is also observed on C2H4 PCO in the presence of 1%Pt/TiO2 but not on its PCO mineralisation with TiO2, which is improved by a factor equivalent to the number of photons emitted. Under PTCO, by increasing the temperature from 40 °C to 120 °C, only a benefit impact is observed on C2H4 and EtOH disappearance but an important decrease of mineralization of C2H4 was observed in presence of TiO2 and UV-C The behaviour of these two VOCs under different irradiations and temperatures will be discussed according to the catalytic process.

Ravinraj AdaikanOvannan
Frederic Dappozze
Chantal Guillard*
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