Colloids with controlled dimensions, morphology and composition can be used to obtain supported metal catalysts with desired characteristics. Yet, removal of capping agents which block active metal sites in such catalysts can be challenging: mild methods often result in incomplete removal of capping agents, whereas harsher methods can cause change in particle size or morphology or cause metal s...

Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in highly-efficient absorbers of visible light for the conversion of solar energy into electrochemical energy. This study presents a TiO2-Au bilayer that consists of a rough Au film under a TiO2 film, which aims to enhance the photocurrent of TiO2 over the whole visible region and may be the first attempt to use rough Au films to sensitize TiO2...

Nanostructured gold supported TiO2, ZnO, and Al2O3 materials (1% w/w Au) were tested as sorbents for gaseous mercury (Hg) trapping and preconcentration. Their analytical performances were first compared with the one of traditional gold wool trap for the quantification of Hg standards injected into the argon flow followed by thermal desorption at 600°C and CVAFS detection. Good linearity and rep...

Skeletal gold nanocages (Au NCs) are synthesized and coated with TiO2 layers (TiO2-Au NCs). The TiO2-Au NCs exhibit enhanced photodecomposition activity toward acetaldehyde under visible light (>400 nm) illumination because hot electrons are generated over the Au NCs by local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and efficiently transported across the metal/semiconductor interface via the defect sta...

Here we demonstrate that the photoactivity of Au-decorated TiO2 electrodes for photoelectrochemical water oxidation can be effectively enhanced in the entire UV-visible region from 300 to 800 nm by manipulating the shape of the decorated Au nanostructures. The samples were prepared by carefully depositing Au nanoparticles (NPs), Au nanorods (NRs), and a mixture of Au NPs and NRs on the surface ...

BACKGROUND PURPOSE Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen evolution is a potential way to solve many energy and environmental issues. Developing visible-light-active photocatalysts to efficiently utilize sunlight and finding proper ways to improve photocatalytic activity for H2 evolution have always been hot topics for research. This study attempts to expand the use of sunlight and to enha...

An extensive study of the adsorption of small Ptn (n = 1−8) and bimetallic Pt2Aum (m = 1−5) clusters on the partially reduced rutile (110) TiO2 surface has been performed via total energy pseudopotential calculations based on density functional theory. Structures, energetics, and electronic properties of adsorbed Ptn and Pt2Aum clusters have been determined. The surface oxygen vacancy site has ...

The specific role played by small gold nanoparticles supported on the rutile TiO2( 110) surface in the processes of adsorption and dissociation of H2 is discussed. It is demonstrated that the molecular and dissociative adsorption of H2 on Au(n) clusters containing n = 1, 2, 8 and 20 atoms depends on cluster size, geometry structure, cluster flexibility and the interaction with the support mater...

Automated systems for electrochemical synthesis and high throughput screening of catalytic materials were developed and used to prepare a library of nanoparticulate gold supported on TiO2. A two-dimensional array (library) of Au was synthesized by pulsed cathodic electrodeposition onto a thermally oxidized titanium dioxide substrate. Variations in particle size across the library were created b...

An efficient method to introduce magnetic attributes to highly complex Au mesostructures by overlayer growth is demonstrated. The overlayer is nanostructured in all the cases investigated. A possible mechanism for the reduction of ions on the surface of Au mesoflowers and the consequent formation of hybrid mesoflowers is discussed. We studied the magnetic hysteresis behavior of Au/Ni, Au/Co, an...