Rhodamine B (RhB), a dye with high environmental pollution risks, necessitates effective degradation strategies for environmental protection. Photocatalytic degradation technology offers a viable solution to mitigate such pollution, with ZnO being extensively utilized in dye degradation due to its excellent ultraviolet (UV) photocatalytic performance. In this study, Cu-doped ZnO nanoparticles were successfully synthesized via a facile method. When the Cu doping level was 0.5%, the material exhibited remarkable photocatalytic activity under UV irradiation, achieving complete RhB degradation within 2 h (degradation efficiency up to 100%). The physical and chemical properties of the material were systematically analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that Cu incorporation did not alter the crystallinity of ZnO but significantly enhanced its light response capability. Based on the experimental results of UV-catalyzed RhB solution degradation, the photocatalytic mechanism of Cu-doped ZnO was thoroughly investigated, providing theoretical insights and technical support for the development of high-efficiency photocatalysts for dye degradation.

In this work, a novel silane coupled cationic precursor (SAGS) was synthesized by 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane and sodium 2-((2-aminorthyl)amino) ethanesulfonate. A series of cation exchange membranes were prepared with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and SAGS by a sol-gel-based process. The structure of the prepared membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and its properties were studied by water uptake (W_R), cation exchange capacity (CEC), linear expansion ratio (LER), alkali stability, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), mechanical properties, and diffusion dialysis performance. FTIR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the successful preparation of SAGS membranes, and SEM images showed that the prepared membranes were dense and uniform. The W_R values of the SAGS membranes were in the range of 91.49–122.39%, and the LER values were 17.65–28.21%. In addition, the SAGS membranes had suitable CEC value, good alkali resistance, and thermal stability which ensured the application of membranes in the field of diffusion dialysis (DD) for alkali recovery. In the DD test, the dialysis coefficients of NaOH (U_OH) ranged from 0.012 mm/h to 0.023 mm/h, and the separation factors (S) was in the range of 30.77–16.43. In conclusion, the prepared CEM containing silicon oxygen bonds by PVA and SAGS reaction has the advantages of low price, friendly environment, good alkali resistance, simple preparation process, and great application potential in the textile manufacturing wastewater recovery.

It is necessary to take full account of the activity, selectivity, dynamic performance, economic benefits, and environmental impact of the catalysts in the overall water splitting of electrocatalysis for the reasonable design of electrocatalysts. Designing nanostructures of catalysts and optimizing defect engineering are considered environmentally friendly and cost-effective electrocatalyst synthesis strategies. Herein, we report that metal cations regulate the microstructure of sea-urchin-like MnO₂ and act as dopants to cause the lattice expansion of MnO₂, resulting in crystal surface defects. The valence unsaturated Mn⁴⁺/Mn³⁺ greatly promotes the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The optimal Al-MnO₂ showed that the overpotential is 390 and 170 mV in the process of catalyzing OER and HER, respectively, at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻². It is exciting to note that after 5000 cycles of Al-MnO₂ within the kinetic potential range of OER and HER, its performance remained almost unchanged. This work provides a simple, efficient, and environmentally friendly route for the design of efficient integrated water-splitting electrocatalysts.

In this work, a novel silane coupled cationic precursor (SAGS) was synthesized by 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane and sodium 2-((2-aminorthyl)amino) ethanesulfonate. A series of cation exchange membranes were prepared with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and SAGS by sol-gel process. The structure of the prepared membranes were characterized by fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and its properties were studied by water uptake (WR), cation exchange capacity (CEC), linear expansion ratio (LER), alkali stability, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), mechanical properties and diffusion dialysis performance. FTIR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS）confirmed the successful preparation of SAGS membranes, and SEM images showed that the prepared membranes were dense and uniform. The WR values of the SAGS membranes were in the range of 91.49-122.39 %, and the LER values were 17.65-28.21 %. In addition, the SAGS membranes had suitable CEC value, good alkali resistance and thermal stability which ensured the application of membranes in the field of diffusion dialysis (DD) for alkali recovery. In DD test, the dialysis coefficients of NaOH (UOH) ranged from 0.012 mm/h to 0.023 mm/h, and the separation factors (S) was in the range of 30.77-16.43. In summary, the prepared membrane had good performance and simple preparation process, which had great application potential in textile industrial wastewater recovery.