Bismuth-phosphate glasses: study of structural and optical properties for photocatalysis applications

• Grant number: 19/00750-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2019
• End date: July 18, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Inorganic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Danilo Manzani
• Grantee: Daniel dos Santos Francisco
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/24248-8 - Bi-rich sodium-phosphate glass: investigation of optical properties and the formation of elemental bismuth nanoparticles, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

The project focuses on the study, synthesis and characterization bismuth-phosphate based glasses, which are potential candidates for application as self-supporting photocatalytic material and self-cleaning surfaces for organic pollutants degradation. The main objective is the preparation of a new glass-ceramic system with high potential for photocatalytic applications owing to the high concentration of Bi3+ species and the photogeneration capacity of electron-hole pairs to degrade organic matter. In addition, the high thermal stability against crystallization of phosphate glasses allows the production of functional glasses with different shapes and sizes, as well as preforms for fiber production, increasing the versatility and applicability of these materials. However, the core of this work turns around the compositional study based on the binary system BiPO4-Bi2O3 and/or Bi(PO3)3-Bi2O3, obtained according the route chosen for bismuth phosphate synthesis. Two routes of bismuth phosphate precursor synthesis will be taken: (I) solid reaction with orthophosphoric acid (H3PO4) at room temperature, and (II) solid reaction with ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (NH4H2PO4). The obtained glass and glass-ceramics will be characterized by different microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, besides being evaluated in photocatalytic tests for degradation of organic model compounds, in order to correlate their structural, optical and electronic properties with their photocatalytic activity.