Minoo Tasbihi

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor at SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences

The photocatalytic production of hydrogen using biopolymer-immobilized titanium dioxide (TiO2) is an innovative and sustainable approach to renewable energy generation. TiO2, a well-known photocatalyst, benefits from immobilization on biopolymers due to its environmental friendliness, abundance, and biodegradability. In another way, to boost the ef...

Water pollution stemming from textile dyes, particularly methylene blue (MB), represents a formidable challenge to both the environment and human well-being. In response to this pressing issue, scientists have redirected their focus toward eco-friendly nanocatalysts as a viable remediation strategy. Nanocatalysts crafted from precious metals like p...

The development of photocatalysts that can utilize the entire solar spectrum is crucial to achieving efficient solar energy conversion. The utility of the benchmark photocatalyst, TiO2, is limited only to the UV region due to its large bandgap. Extending the light harvesting properties across the entire spectrum is paramount to enhancing solar phot...

Four commercial titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalysts, namely P25, P90, PC105, and PC500, were immobilized onto steel plates using a sol-gel binder and investigated for phenol degradation under 365 nm UV-LED irradiation. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and total organic carbon (TOC) analyses were performed to study the impact of thre...

Phosphomolybdic acid was used to achieve simultaneously P-doping and heterojunction construction of graphitic carbon nitride. The composite materials show improved light harvesting that result in a better hydrogen evolution performance.

Greener nanocatalyst synthesis is growing in importance, especially when using scarce noble metals such as platinum (Pt) as the active metal. In the synthesis process presented herein, we utilized extract of mangosteen peel as a green reductant and found that it produces Pt nanoparticles (NPs) with high activity. The supported Pt NPs were synthesiz...

Exfoliated graphitic carbon nitride (ex-g-CN) was synthesized and loaded with non-noble metals (Ni, Cu, and Co). The synthesized catalysts were tested for hydrogen production using a 300-W Xe lamp equipped with a 395 nm cutoff filter. A noncommercial double-walled quartz-glass reactor irradiated from the side was used with a 1 g/L catalyst in 20 mL...

In this contribution, a simple method for the screening of photocatalytic activity of catalyst materials is presented. The method is based on two steps: the immobilization of the photocatalyst and the subsequent testing of their photocatalytic activity, using the gas evolution at the solid-liquid interface. Up to four catalysts can be tested under...

Ru or Pt nanoparticles have been prepared following the organometallic approach and deposited onto the surface of mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (mpg-CN). Three different Ru-based samples have also been compared to investigate the effect of 4-phenylpyridine as a stabilizing agent. The photocatalytic performance towards the hydrogen evolution r...

A new composite photocatalyst called POF/TiO2 was prepared from commercial P25 TiO2 and Posidonia oceanica fibers (POF), a biomaterial collected from Tunisia’s beach. The composite material was prepared by a classical sol-gel synthesis and was characterized by different methods. SEM images show a TiO2 layer formed on top of the fibers, which was ve...

Following the example of photovoltaics, one approach to large‐scale photocatalytic hydrogen production is the irradiation of a correspondingly large catalyst area. Paper production is a process in which large areas can already be produced based on the main component: cellulose. Herein, the TiO2 photocatalyst modification PC500, which also uses plat...

Nowadays, because of the long-lasting release of the greenhouse gas CO2, global warming has become an urgent issue. Besides the limitation of further CO2 emission, it is necessary to find sustainable ways to utilize the excess of CO2, e.g. by transforming it into value-added products. Among various techniques and strategies to utilize CO2, photocat...

In this contribution, four different commercial TiO2 catalysts (P25, P90, PC105, and PC500) were screened for the photocatalytic production of hydrogen using ethanol as the sacrificial agent. The physico-chemical properties of the TiO2 powders were characterized by using different methods. The photocatalysts mainly vary in the ratio of anatase and...

Photocatalysis is one of the most important process was used to eliminate various organic pollutants as phenol in water. In this research study, a new composite containing Kaolinite, cement, wood fibers modified by titanium oxide TiO2 was elaborated in order to be used in addition of building materials, as photocatalyst for the degradation of pheno...

The photocatalytic performance of metal-free graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) was examined using visible light-emitting diodes (LEDs). A comparative and parametric study was conducted using the photocatalytic degradation of phenol as a model reaction. The g-C3N4 photocatalyst was synthesized from melamine using thermal condensation, followed by a...

Platinum nanoparticles (Pt-NPs) have been directly synthesized through the organometallic approach onto the surface of mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (mpg-CN) semiconductor with two different metal loadings. Thorough multi-technique characterization reveals a very good dispersion of nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution centered at ca....

In this study, La0.8Zn0.2MnO3 nanocatalysts were synthesized using sol-gel method at different citric acid to metal nitrate (C/N) ratios and different calcination temperatures. The synthesized catalysts were used for oxidation of benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) in a catalytic-plasma hybrid reactor at different input voltages of 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5,...

In this work, a composite containing clay, cement and wood fibers has been prepared and used in several applications such as ceramic, adsorption and catalysis. Different commercial titania (PC500, P90, and C-TiO2) were immobilized on as-prepared composite. The prepared materials have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrosc...

In this work, various BiFeO3 perovskite photocatalysts on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) were synthesized using three different gel agents of ethylene glycol (E), citric acid (C), and a combination of citric acid-ethylene glycol (CE). The phsyico-chemical properties of photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, FTIR, FESEM, BET-BJH, UV–Vis DRS, and VS...

Visible light-driven Fe3O4-ZnO nano photocatalyst with magnetic properties has been impregnated on floating minerals of Perlite, Pumice, Vermiculite, and Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate (LECA). The physicochemical properties of as-prepared photocatalysts were determined by means of XRD, FESEM, BET, EDX, TEM-SAED, FTIR, and UV-Vis DRS techniques...

Development of competent and cost-effective materials for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has been attracting great attention since hydrogen is hailed as a promising environmentally friendly energy source to reduce the greenhouse emissions. Herein, Ru(0) nanoparticles (RuNPs) have been stabilized onto the surface of four different conducting carb...

Manganese oxide catalysts have been synthesized from the used batteries via hydrometallurgical method and effect of hydrometallurgical parameters such as the effect of acid type (H2SO4, HNO3, HCl), acid concentration (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 %v/v) and powder to acid ratio (1/50, 1/60, 1/70, 1/80) were in detail investigated. The physico-chemical properties...

Oil spill from explosion of oil wells and tankers threatens the life of sea creatures. Photocatalytic oxidation of oil spill is a promising way due to its low cost, complete conversion and the capability of using free and abundant sunlight. For better interaction between oil, photocatalyst and the light, it is recommended to use floating photocatal...

To overcome the drawbacks of pure g-C3N4 in photocatalysis, namely insufficient light absorption and fast recombination of its photogenerated charges, g-C3N4-based nanocomposites were investigated. In detail, this study focuses on a novel route by which carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) might be inserted into the structure of g-C3N4 to form hybrid materi...

Volatile organic compounds, as an emerging group of organic pollutants, have significant harmful effects on both human health and the environment. BTX, which consists of benzene, toluene and xylene, is the most important kind of these compounds, which is extensively produced in the oil and gas industry. To date, various treatment methods have been...

In this study, the photodeposition synthesized Pt-titania (Pt/P25) photocatalysts with various amount of Pt (0.5-5.0 wt.%) were characterized in detail by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis (BET), inductively coupled plasma with optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-EOS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS...

The principal goal in this work is the elaboration of the hybrid particles produced by a simple addition of particles TiO2 into the hybrid materials and the evaluation of photocatalytic activity of different materials to remove phenol.

Immobilization of TiO2 particles over substrates like glass can facilitate the separation after photocatalytic runs. Photocatalytic activity of TiO2 coatings is related to its morphology, crystallography, optical properties and adherence of the coating. Biotemplates, including animal-based and herbal-based templates are inexpensive, biocompatible a...

In the current paper, the continuous-flow photodegradation of diclofenac (DCF) as an aqueous model pollutant was investigated using porous carbon nitride (mp-CN), immobilized onto stainless steel (SS) plates, as the photocatalyst, and a homemade cubic photoreactor for the degradation reaction. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and N2 adsorption/desorption ch...

In this study, TiO2–ZnO nanostructured films prepared from different Ti/water mole ratios were deposited on glass plates by a sol–gel dip-coating method. The structural and surface properties, adherence, and photoactivity of synthesized TiO2–ZnO coatings in methylene blue degradation were investigated. Among the as-prepared TiO2–ZnO coatings from s...

In this paper, the powder of manganese oxide was recovered from spent alkaline batteries and the effect of calcination temperature on the physiochemical properties of resultant powder was studied. Synthesized manganese oxide was impregnated at different percentages on alumina and the resultant material was used as catalyst for oxidation of benzene,...

In this paper, silicotungstic acid (HSiW) was impregnated on natural minerals such as clinoptilolite (HSiW/Clin), mordenite (HSiW/Mord), bentonite (HsiW/Bent) and kaolinite (HSiW/Kaoln) and were evaluated towards photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in wastewater. The as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction...

Photocatalysis is able to degrade dyes. We could trace the active species with XPS measurements.

The photocatalytic reduction of CO2 with H2O was investigated using Cu/TiO2 photocatalysts in aqueous solution. For this purpose, Cu/TiO2 photocatalysts (with 0.2, 0.9, 2, 4, and 6 wt.% of Cu) have been synthesized via sol-gel method. The photocatalysts were extensively characterized by means of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrome...

The present work deals with the photocatalytic degradation of Diclofenac (DCF), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, using different commercial titania (P25, P90, C-TiO 2 photocatalysts without and with Platinum as the co-catalyst. The photocatalysts containing Pt nanoparticles have been synthesized by the photodeposition method. The physico-che...

Photocatalytic reduction of CO2 with H2O was performed in a top-irradiation stainless-steel photoreactor with Pt/C-TiO2 as the photocatalyst. Pt/C-TiO2 photocatalysts with different amount of Pt (0.5–3.0 wt.%) were synthesized by the photodeposition method and were characterized in detail by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), nitrogen physisorption me...

In this paper, a sol-gel derived mesoporous polymeric carbon nitride has been investigated as a photocatalyst for CO2 photocatalytic reduction. Noble-metal Pt nanoparticles were deposited on carbon nitride (sg-CN) in order to investigate the performance of both Pt-sg-CN and sg-CN for photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Physicochemical properties of prepa...

Pt/TiO2 and Pt/TiO2-COK-12 photocatalysts have been prepared by a deposition-precipitation method and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption isotherms, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The pho...

In this paper, a continuous flat plate photoreactor with ZnO coating was studied in the photodegradation of methylene blue. The structural properties of catalyst were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The XRD results indicate that high crystalline ZnO...

Stainless steel mesh and hemmed knitted fiber glass strips were coated with TiO2 sol to study the possibilities of the two materials as alternative supports for TiO2 in photocatalytic wastewater treatment process. Commercially available P25, P90 and PC500 powder catalysts were successfully immobilized on stainless steel mesh and fiber glass strips....

In this paper, sol–gel technique with dip coating was used to prepare photocatalytic TiO2 coatings on glass plates. Effect of different calcination temperatures of 400, 500, 600 and 700 °C on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 coatings was investigated in de-colorization of methylene blue under UV-A irradiations in a batch reactor. The highest met...

Pt/TiO2 (PC500) photocatalysts with different amount of Pt (0.5–3.0 wt.%) deposited on commercial support (Al2O3 foam) were characterized in detail by X-ray powder diffraction, nitrogen physisorption measurement, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), photoelectrochemical measure...

In the current study, ZnO@SiO2 core–shell structured catalyst was synthesized for photocatalytic degradation of phenol from aqueous samples. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, UV–Vis–NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, transmission electron mic...

Titanium dioxide as a semiconductor is present for quite some time in the history of solar cell, but not in the form of self-cleaning surfaces. TiO2–SiO2 nanostructured coatings used in environmental applications have proved to be good antifogging, self-cleaning and antimicrobial surfaces due to their photocatalytic properties and photoinduced supe...

Nowadays, it is a great challenge to eliminate toxic and harmful organic pollutants from air and water. This paper reviews the role of TiO2 as a photocatalyst, light source and photoreactor in the particular case of removal of formaldehyde using the photocatalytic reaction by titanium dioxide (TiO2) in aqueous and gaseous systems. The reaction mech...

In this work, incorporation of aqueous titania sol into an ordered and disordered mesoporous silica materials is carried out by means of a sol–gel impregnation route, dedicating particular attention to the control of the Ti/Si molar ratio in order to tailor the composition of the resulting materials. The target systems are characterized by means of...

Self-cleaning and anti-fogging technology is already used in a variety of the products today, among which glazing products prevail. Their function is based on the two principles, either hydrophobic (Lotus effect) or photocatalytic hydrophilic principle. In the latter case, self-cleaning action is based on the combination of photocatalysis and photo...

The aim of this study was to prepare a highly active immobilized titania/silica photocatalyst and to test its performance in situ toward degradation of toluene as one of the major toxic indoor contaminants. In this work, two different titania layers immobilized on Al sheets were synthesized via low temperature sol-gel method employing presynthesize...

When photocatalytic water treatment is concerned, suspended catalyst in the aqueous phase is usually more efficient than immobilized on an inert support, but in the former case an undesirable separation/recycling step is needed. We have therefore concentrated on the preparation of immobilized catalysts in the form of films on glass and aluminium su...

The photocatalytic degradation of toluene was carried out on titania/mesoporous silica photocatalysts in a self-constructed gaseous fluidized-bed photoreactor equipped with UVA light source. The powder photocatalysts were synthesized by incorporation of aqueous titania sol (as a photoactive component), into silica mesoporous materials (as a high-su...

Ordered (SBA-15) and disordered (KIL-2) mesoporous silica supports have been synthesized and used for incorporation of titania with different Ti/Si molar ratios (1/2, 1/1, 2/1) via sol–gel impregnation method. Titanium isopropoxide and aqueous titania sol prepared by low-temperature sol–gel processing were used as a source of titania. Characterizat...

This paper investigates the effect of pH and anodization time on the formation of titania (TiO2) nanotubes. Well-organized TiO2 nanotubes were electrochemically prepared by anodizing titanium foil in 1M Na2SO4 containing 0.3g of NH4F. It was found that TiO2 nanotubes with uniform pore diameters can be produced by manipulating electrochemical condit...

Nowadays, it is a great challenge to synthesize crystalline TiO(2) using low-temperature methods without a calcination step. In our study, the anatase TiO(2) powders were synthesized using titanium tetrachloride (TiCl(4)) as a precursor via the sol-gel method at low-temperature preparation conditions. Perchloric acid and nitric acid were used as pe...

Combined photolysis and predominantly photocatalytic degradation of phenol under UV-C light (λ = 254 nm) with the maximum intensity of 5400 μW/cm2 was carried out in a batch reactor. The TiO2 photocatalysts were supported on glass beads, silica gel, and quartz sand using a sol−gel method. The supported TiO2 catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM,...

Dehydrogenation of isobutane (iC4) to isobutene has recently received considerable attention because of the increasing demand for methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE), as additives for gasoline to increase the octane number and to substitute lead. Among several catalysts, Pt–Sn/γ-Al2O3 catalyst is one of the most...

Catalysis can play two principal roles in nanoscience, including (1) catalysts can be involved in some methods for preparing nanomaterials such as nanotubes; (2) some nanostructures themselves can serve as catalysts for additional chemical reactions. Both nanocatalysis aspects are highlighted in this paper, covering the topics of the use of nanocat...