title: Innovative three-dimensional (3D) eco-TiO₂ photocatalysts for practical environmental and bio-medical applications.
abstract: It is known that water purified by conventional TiO2 photocatalysts may not be safe enough for drinking, due to the toxicity by tiny existence of TiO2 nanoparticles after water treatment. We herein demonstrate a facile design of a three-dimensional (3D) TiO2 photocatalyst structure with which both the efficiency of purification and the safety level of the final purified water can be improved and ensured, respectively. The structure, consisting of 3D sulfur-doped TiO2 microtubes in nanotubes (eco-TiO2), is suitable for both environmental and bio-medical applications. Investigation of its formation mechanism reveals that anodic aluminum oxide (AAO), owing to a spatial constraint, causes a simple, nanoparticles-to-nanotubes structural rearrangement as a template for nanotube growth. It is found that eco-TiO2 can be activated under visible-light irradiation by non-metal (sulfur; S) doping, after which it shows visible-light photocatalytic activities over a range of solar energy. Importantly, an in vitro cytotoxicity test of well-purified water by eco-TiO2 confirms that eco-TiO2 satisfies the key human safety conditions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Science, Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Daejeon 305-333, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Uk
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry and Biological Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Soon Chang
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of BioNano Technology, Gachon University, 1342 Seongnamdaero, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 461-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Chul
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Research analysis center, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byoungchul
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Son
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Science, Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Daejeon 305-333, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: So Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Engineering, Dankook University, Cheonan 330-714, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Biomass and Waste Energy Laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), Daejeon 305-343, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: You-Kwan
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Science, Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Daejeon 305-333, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yooseok
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biotechnology Research Center, KRIBB, Daejeon 305-806, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Saehae
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry and Biological Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Seak
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Science, Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Daejeon 305-333, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jouhahn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry; D060766:Drinking Water; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium; D000537:Aluminum Oxide