Abstract
In the present work, the influence of a gold nanoparticle’s shape was investigated on the commercially available Evonik Aeroxide P25. By the variation of specific synthesis parameters, three differently shaped Au nanoparticles were synthetized and deposited on the surface of the chosen commercial titania. The nanoparticles and their composites’ morphological and structural details were evaluated, applying different techniques such as Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The influence of the Au nanoparticles’ shape was discussed by evaluating their photocatalytic efficiency on phenol and oxalic acid degradation and by investigating the H2 production efficacy of the selected composites. Major differences in their photocatalytic performance depending on the shape of the deposited noble metal were evidenced.
Highlights
Since the early 1970s a large number of publications appeared regarding TiO2-based photocatalysts, exploring the intersection of different pathways of wastewater treatment and alternative energy sources.One of the solution for these challenges was found to be the investigation of the semiconductor-properties as well as of those related to the semiconductor–metal-based nanocomposites
Differently shaped gold nanoparticles were obtained taking in count the dimensionality aspects, which were: (a) Spheres: 3D particles described by a single dimension: the radius of the sphere; (b) Triangles: 2D particles described by multiple geometric elements and for which one of the geometry defining element is significantly smaller than the other; (c) Wires: 1D particles where two of the geometry defining element is significantly smaller than the other
The synthesis was chosen in such way that the weight of the differently shaped gold nanoparticles were in the same range
Summary
Since the early 1970s a large number of publications appeared regarding TiO2-based photocatalysts, exploring the intersection of different pathways of wastewater treatment and alternative energy sources.One of the solution for these challenges was found to be the investigation of the semiconductor-properties as well as of those related to the semiconductor–metal-based nanocomposites. A large number of semiconductor-photocatalysts have been reported (TiO2 [2,3], ZnO [4,5], CdSe [6,7], SnO2 [8,9], CuO [10,11], WO3 [12,13], etc.), but by far, the most studied material remained the TiO2 because of its stability, strong oxidizing power, chemical inertness, non-toxicity, low cost and environmentally nonthreatening nature [14,15,16]. This promising material, even if, from some point of view is close to the ideal photocatalyst, it has its own “Achilles’
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
