@article{BlockGuenterRodriguesetal.2021,
  author    = {Block, Inga and G{\"u}nter, Christina and Rodrigues, Alysson Duarte and Paasch, Silvia and Hesemann, Peter and Taubert, Andreas},
  title     = {Carbon Adsorbents from Spent Coffee for Removal of Methylene Blue and Methyl Orange from Water},
  series = {Materials},
  volume    = {14},
  journal   = {Materials},
  number    = {14},
  publisher = {MDPI},
  address   = {Basel},
  issn      = {1996-1944},
  doi       = {10.3390/ma14143996},
  pages     = {18},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Activated carbons (ACs) were prepared from dried spent coffee (SCD), a biological waste product, to produce adsorbents for methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solution. Pre-pyrolysis activation of SCD was achieved via treatment of the SCD with aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions at 90 °C. Pyrolysis of the pretreated SCD at 500 °C for 1 h produced powders with typical characteristics of AC suitable and effective for dye adsorption. As an alternative to the rather harsh base treatment, calcium carbonate powder, a very common and abundant resource, was also studied as an activator. Mixtures of SCD and CaCO3 (1:1 w/w) yielded effective ACs for MO and MB removal upon pyrolysis needing only small amounts of AC to clear the solutions. A selectivity of the adsorption process toward anionic (MO) or cationic (MB) dyes was not observed.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{UgwujaAdelowoOgunlajaetal.2019,
  author    = {Ugwuja, Chidinma G. and Adelowo, Olawale O. and Ogunlaja, Aemere and Omorogie, Martins O. and Olukanni, Olumide D. and Ikhimiukor, Odion O. and Iermak, Ievgeniia and Kolawole, Gabriel A. and G{\"u}nter, Christina and Taubert, Andreas and Bodede, Olusola and Moodley, Roshila and Inada, Natalia M. and Camargo, Andrea S.S. de and Unuabonah, Emmanuel Iyayi},
  title     = {Visible-Light-Mediated Photodynamic Water Disinfection @ Bimetallic-Doped Hybrid Clay Nanocomposites},
  series = {ACS applied materials \& interfaces},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {ACS applied materials \& interfaces},
  number    = {28},
  publisher = {American Chemical Society},
  address   = {Washington, DC},
  issn      = {1944-8244},
  doi       = {10.1021/acsami.9b01212},
  pages     = {25483 -- 25494},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {This study reports a new class of photocatalytic hybrid clay nanocomposites prepared from low-cost sources (kaolinite clay and Carica papaya seeds) doped with Zn and Cu salts via a solvothermal process. X-ray diffraction analysis suggests that Cu-doping and Cu/Zn-doping introduce new phases into the crystalline structure of Kaolinite clay, which is linked to the reduced band gap of kaolinite from typically between 4.9 and 8.2 eV to 2.69 eV for Cu-doped and 1.5 eV for Cu/Zn hybrid clay nanocomposites (Nisar, J.; Arhammar, C.; Jamstorp, E.; Ahuja, R. Phys. Rev. B 2011, 84, 075120). In the presence of solar light irradiation, Cu- and Cu/Zn-doped nanocomposites facilitate the electron hole pair separation. This promotes the generation of singlet oxygen which in turn improves the water disinfection efficiencies of these novel nanocomposite materials. The nanocomposite materials were further characterized using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, fluorimetry, therrnogravimetric analysis, and Raman spectroscopy. The breakthrough times of the nanocomposites for a fixed bed mode of disinfection of water contaminated with 2.32 x 10(7) cfu/mL E. coli ATCC 25922 under solar light irradiation are 25 h for Zn-doped, 30 h for Cu-doped, and 35 h for Cu/Zn-doped nanocomposites. In the presence of multidrug and multimetal resistant strains of E. coli, the breakthrough time decreases significantly. Zn-only doped nanocomposites are not photocatalytically active. In the absence of light, the nanocomposites are still effective in decontaminating water, although less efficient than under solar light irradiation. Electrostatic interaction, metal toxicity, and release of singlet oxygen (only in the Cu-doped and Cu/Zn-doped nanocomposites) are the three disinfection mechanisms by which these nanocomposites disinfect water. A regrowth study indicates the absence of any living E. coli cells in treated water even after 4 days. These data and the long hydraulic times (under gravity) exhibited by these nanocomposites during photodisinfection of water indicate an unusually high potential of these nanocomposites as efficient, affordable, and sustainable point-of-use systems for the disinfection of water in developing countries.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{ZamponiPenfoldNachtegaaletal.2014,
  author    = {Zamponi, Flavio and Penfold, Thomas J. and Nachtegaal, Maarten and L{\"u}bcke, Andrea and Rittmann, Jochen and Milne, Chris J. and Chergui, Majed and van Bokhoven, Jeroen A.},
  title     = {Probing the dynamics of plasmon-excited hexanethiol-capped gold nanoparticles by picosecond X-ray absorption spectroscopy},
  series = {physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP},
  volume    = {2014},
  journal   = {physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP},
  number    = {16},
  issn      = {1463-9076},
  doi       = {10.1039/c4cp03301a},
  pages     = {23157 -- 23163},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {Picosecond X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is used to investigate the electronic and structural dynamics initiated by plasmon excitation of 1.8 nm diameter Au nanoparticles (NPs) functionalised with 1-hexanethiol. We show that 100 ps after photoexcitation the transient XAS spectrum is consistent with an 8\% expansion of the Au-Au bond length and a large increase in disorder associated with melting of the NPs. Recovery of the ground state occurs with a time constant of ∼1.8 ns, arising from thermalisation with the environment. Simulations reveal that the transient spectrum exhibits no signature of charge separation at 100 ps and allows us to estimate an upper limit for the quantum yield (QY) of this process to be <0.1.},
  language  = {en}
}