Severino Angela, Grirrane Abdessamad, Cabrero-Antonino María, Lavorato Cristina, Argurio Pietro, Molinari Raffaele, García Hermenegildo
Department of Environmental Engineering (DIAm), University of Calabria, via P. Bucci, Cubo 44/A, 87036 Rende, CS, Italy.
Instituto Universitario de Tecnología Química, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Av. De los Naranjos s/n, 46022 Valencia , Spain.
ACS Appl Nano Mater. 2025 Jul 16;8(29):14720-14732. doi: 10.1021/acsanm.5c02376. eCollection 2025 Jul 25.
The accumulation of microplastics and nanoplastics in aquatic environments has raised significant concerns in recent years, given the potential health risks to both aquatic ecosystems and humans; due to their nanometer size, they enter the food chain of aquatic species and consequently that of humans too. This study presents an efficient plasmonic photocatalyst for degrading polystyrene nanoplastics (PS NPs), while simultaneously generating green hydrogen in the process. Blank controls show that the presence of PS NPs is necessary for H evolution, since under identical conditions, it does not occur in their absence. A series of visible light-responsive plasmonic photocatalysts consisting of TiO nanoparticles (NPs) supporting Pd, Au, Pt, and Ag NPs were prepared via the impregnation method. Among the synthesized nanoparticle photocatalysts, the 3 wt % Pd/TiO NP photocatalyst exhibited superior hydrogen generation, producing 1329.76 μmol g after 2 h of irradiation, while also achieving a reduction in the average PS NP diameter. This study illustrates the potential of solar NP photocatalysis for environmental remediation and simultaneous hydrogen evolution.
近年来，微塑料和纳米塑料在水生环境中的积累引发了人们的重大关注，因为这对水生生态系统和人类都存在潜在的健康风险；由于它们的纳米尺寸，它们进入水生物种的食物链，进而也进入人类的食物链。本研究展示了一种高效的等离子体光催化剂，用于降解聚苯乙烯纳米塑料（PS NPs），同时在此过程中产生绿色氢气。空白对照表明，PS NPs的存在对于析氢是必要的，因为在相同条件下，没有PS NPs时析氢不会发生。通过浸渍法制备了一系列由负载Pd、Au、Pt和Ag NPs的TiO纳米颗粒（NPs）组成的可见光响应等离子体光催化剂。在合成的纳米颗粒光催化剂中，3 wt% Pd/TiO NP光催化剂表现出优异的产氢性能，光照2小时后产氢量达到1329.76 μmol g，同时还实现了PS NP平均直径的减小。本研究说明了太阳能NP光催化在环境修复和同时析氢方面的潜力。
