Abstract. Titania (TiO2) is one of the most unique catalysts, crucially important in photo-green chemistry. The mesoporous TiO2 has large surface area, uniform pore size and open frameworks for the transfer of mass and charges. TiO2 has photocatalytic activity which can degrade both organic and inorganic compounds. The band gap energy of TiO2 can be modified by doping various metal oxides to ma...

This study focuses on the deposition and growth mode of rhodium (Rh) on gold (Au) seed nanorods (NRs). Using a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, we show that Rh deposition results in an uneven overlayer morphology on the Au NR seeds, with a tendency for Rh deposition to occur preferenti...

Au, Cu and bimetallic Au-Cu nanoparticles were synthesized on the surface of commercial TiO2 compounds (P25) by reduction of the metal precursors with tetrakis (hydroxymethyl) phosphonium chloride (THPC) (0.5 % in weight). The alloyed structure of Au-Cu NPs was confirmed by HAADF-STEM, EDS, HRTEM and XPS techniques. The photocatalytic properties of the modified TiO2 have been studied for phenol...

As metal nanostructures demonstrated extraordinary plasmon resonance, their optical characteristics have widely been investigated in photo-electronic applications. However, there has been no clear demonstration on the location effect of plasmonic metal layer within the photoanode on both optical characteristics and photovoltaic performances. In this research, the gold (Au) nano-islands (NIs) fi...

We have examined the adsorption behaviors of carbon monoxide (CO) molecule on TiO2 anatase supported Au overlayers. The results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used in order to gain insights into the effects of the adsorption of CO molecules on the considered hybrid nanostructures. We have investigated different adsorption geometries of CO over the nanoparticles....

Cathodoluminescence spectroscopy is profitably exploited to study energy transfer mechanisms in Au and Pt/black TiO2 heterostructures. While Pt nanoparticles absorb light in the UV region, Au nanoparticles absorb light by surface plasmon resonance and interband transitions, both of them occurring in the visible region. The intra-bandgap states (oxygen vacancies) of black TiO2 play a key role in...

Chromium hydroxide overlayer have been shown to great potential protects the phosphine-ligated Au clusters from agglomeration after removal of ligands and under conditions photocatalytic water splitting.

Switched photocurrent direction in photoelectrodes is a very interesting phenomenon and has demonstrated their potentials in important applications including photodiodes, phototransistors, light-driven sensors and biosensors. However, the design and mechanism understanding of such photoelectrodes remain challenging to date. Here we report a new phenomenon of sequence-driven the photocurrent dir...

The low quantum yields and lack of visible light utilization hinder the practical application of TiO2 in high-performance photocatalysis. Herein, we present a design of TiO2 nanopillar arrays (NPAs) decorated with both Au and Pt nanoparticles (NPs) directly synthesized through successive ion layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) at room temperature. Au/Pt NPs with sizes of ~4 nm are well-disper...

In this communication, a new photoelectrochemical aptasensor with Au nanoparticle functionalized self-doped TiO2 nanotube arrays (Au/SD-TiO2 NTs) as the core sensing unit and aptamers as the recognition unit was set up to accomplish the sensitive and selective detection of kanamycin with the lowest detection limit of 0.1 nM.