Professors Richard Kurtz and Phillip Sprunger in the Physics Department at Louisiana State University are examining the photocatalytic reaction mechanisms of organic oxidation at metal decorated titanium dioxide nanoparticle surfaces. With the support of the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, this team is using scanning probe microscopy and synchrotron based photoemission methods to characterize metal decorated titania particles which have been capped with a layer of titania. The capping layer is thought to prevent oxidation and agglomeration of the nanometal antennae on the photocatalytic particles. Significant broader impacts will result in the application of these materials in environmental remediation and photocatalytic water splitting, if this conceptual advance can be successfully implemented.
Metal decorated titania nanoparticles can be tuned to absorb solar radiation and used as photocatalysts for water splitting and organic oxidation reactions. Professor Kurtz and his coworkers at LSU are applying surface characterization methods to titania capped nanoparticles, in an attempt to understand photocatalytic mechanisms on these materials. Application to environmentally relevant systems may result.
