Nanoscale Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
Photocatalysis is the most effective approach to decompose various organic pollutants due to its high efficiency, low-cost and eco-friendly nature. Heterogeneous photocatalysis has become a hot topic in the field of green chemistry. Currently, several types of metal oxide semiconductors such as titanium dioxide (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), tungsten oxide (WO3) and combinations of them have been used as photocatalysts. Titanium (IV) oxide (TiO2) is one of the most studied semiconductor photocatalysts for the degradation of organic pollutants because of its high activity, chemical, and thermal stability. However, the photocatalytic performance of TiO2 is limited by its wide bandgap (3.2 eV), low quantum efficiency and high electron-hole pairs recombination rate. Recently we have shown that photocatalytic activity of TiO2 can be improved by tailoring its morphology (thin films etc.) [1–4], doping with noble metals (gold, silver, etc.) [5–8] and coupling with metal oxides (CeO2, PdO, etc.) [9–11].
- Nanocrack networks: An effective tool to enhance the photocatalytic performance
- Photocatalytic activity evaulation at the nanoscale: Aqueous and non-aqueous photocatalytic degradation
- Nanoscale metal-metal oxides as photocatalysts
- Nanoscale mixed metal oxides as photocatalysts
Selected publications
[1] M.Z. Ghori, S. Veziroglu, B. Henkel, A. Vahl, O. Polonskyi, T. Strunskus, F. Faupel, O.C. Aktas, A comparative study of photocatalysis on highly active columnar TiO2 nanostructures in-air and in-solution, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells. 178 (2018) 170–178
[2] B. Henkel, T. Neubert, S. Zabel, C. Lamprecht, C. Selhuber-Unkel, K. Rätzke, T. Strunskus, M. Vergöhl, F. Faupel, Photocatalytic properties of titania thin films prepared by sputtering versus evaporation and aging of induced oxygen vacancy defects, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 180 (2016) 362–371
[3] A. Vahl, S. Veziroglu, B. Henkel, T. Strunskus, O. Polonskyi, O.C. Aktas, F. Faupel, Pathways to Tailor Photocatalytic Performance of TiO2 Thin Films Deposited by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering, Materials (Basel). 12 (2019) 2840
[4] B. Henkel, A. Vahl, O.C. Aktas, T. Strunskus, F. Faupel, Self-organized nanocrack networks: a pathway to enlarge catalytic surface area in sputtered ceramic thin films, showcased for photocatalytic TiO2, Nanotechnology. 29 (2018) 035703
[5] S. Veziroglu, A.-L. Obermann, M. Ullrich, M. Hussain, M. Kamp, L. Kienle, T. Leißner, H.-G. Rubahn, O. Polonskyi, T. Strunskus, J. Fiutowski, M. Es-Souni, J. Adam, F. Faupel, O.C. Aktas, Photodeposition of Au Nanoclusters for Enhanced Photocatalytic Dye Degradation over TiO2 Thin Film, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 12 (2020) 14983–14992
[6] S. Veziroglu, M.Z. Ghori, A.L. Obermann, K. Röder, O. Polonskyi, T. Strunskus, F. Faupel, O.C. Aktas, Ag Nanoparticles Decorated TiO2 Thin Films with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity, Phys. Status Solidi Appl. Mater. Sci. 216 (2019) 1–6
[7] S. Veziroglu, M.Z. Ghori, M. Kamp, L. Kienle, H.G. Rubahn, T. Strunskus, J. Fiutowski, J. Adam, F. Faupel, O.C. Aktas, Photocatalytic Growth of Hierarchical Au Needle Clusters on Highly Active TiO2 Thin Film, Adv. Mater. Interfaces. 5 (2018) 1800465
[8] S. Veziroglu, M. Ullrich, M. Hussain, J. Drewes, J. Shondo, T. Strunskus, J. Adam, F. Faupel, O.C. Aktas, Plasmonic and non-plasmonic contributions on photocatalytic activity of Au-TiO2 thin film under mixed UV–visible light, Surf. Coatings Technol. 389 (2020) 125613
[9] M.Z. Ghori, S. Veziroglu, A. Hinz, B.B. Shurtleff, O. Polonskyi, T. Strunskus, J. Adam, F. Faupel, O.C. Aktas, Role of UV Plasmonics in the Photocatalytic Performance of TiO2 Decorated with Aluminum Nanoparticles, ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 1 (2018) 3760–3764.
[10] S. Veziroglu, K. Röder, O. Gronenberg, A. Vahl, O. Polonskyi, T. Strunskus, H.-G. Rubahn, L. Kienle, J. Adam, J. Fiutowski, F. Faupel, O.C. Aktas, Cauliflower-like CeO2 –TiO2 hybrid nanostructures with extreme photocatalytic and self-cleaning properties, Nanoscale. 11 (2019) 9840–9844.
[11] S. Veziroglu, J. Hwang, J. Drewes, I. Barg, J. Shondo, T. Strunskus, O. Polonskyi, F. Faupel, O.C. Aktas, PdO nanoparticles decorated TiO2 film with enhanced photocatalytic and self-cleaning properties, Mater. Today Chem. 16 (2020) 100251.