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.