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Advances in Photocatalytic Disinfection pp 17–39Cite as

Visible Light Photocatalysis of Natural Semiconducting Minerals

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Part of the book series: Green Chemistry and Sustainable Technology ((GCST))

Abstract

Semiconducting minerals of rutile (TiO2) and sphalerite (ZnS) are visible light (VL)-responsive photocatalysts in nature. The substitutions of metal ions for TiIV and ZnII make their electronic structure differ from their “pure” counterparts and result in the broad absorption of VL. The conduction band of sphalerite is negative enough to photoreduce many organics. While, the valence band potential of rutile is more positive than sphalerite, which enables it with stronger oxidation ability. Their good VL photocatalytic activities are therefore verified by the photooxidation of methyl orange (MO) by rutile’s valence band holes and photoreduction of carbon tetrachloride (CT) by sphalerite’s conduction band electrons, respectively. The abundant deposition and low cost make natural rutile and sphalerite, along with other semiconducting minerals, promising candidates for developing green photocatalytic technologies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, Program No. 2014CB846001) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41230103 & 41272003 & 41522201).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution, School of Earth and Space Science, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Yan Li, Cong Ding, Yi Liu, Yanzhang Li, Anhuai Lu, Changqiu Wang & Hongrui Ding

Authors
  1. Yan Li
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  2. Cong Ding
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  3. Yi Liu
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  4. Yanzhang Li
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  5. Anhuai Lu
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  6. Changqiu Wang
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  7. Hongrui Ding
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anhuai Lu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Taicheng An

  2. Centre for Clean Environment and Energy, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

    Huijun Zhao

  3. School of Life Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Po Keung Wong

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Li, Y. et al. (2017). Visible Light Photocatalysis of Natural Semiconducting Minerals. In: An, T., Zhao, H., Wong, P. (eds) Advances in Photocatalytic Disinfection. Green Chemistry and Sustainable Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-53496-0_2

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