TY - JOUR A1 - Pellegrino, Francesco A1 - Maurino, V. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Morphological Characterization and Chemical Identification of TiO2 Nanoparticles Doped with Ultrafine Metal Particles for Enhanced Photocatalytical Activity JF - Microscopy and Microanalysis N2 - The conversion of solar energy into electricity and solar fuels is of crucial importance for a green and sustainable future. Water splitting using semiconductor photo-catalysts is considered a sustainable method to produce clean hydrogen (H2) fuel. Nevertheless, H2 photo-production efficiency remains still low, although extensive research works to understand better the mechanisms of the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) and the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) are being carried out. In this respect, TiO2 is a key photoactive material, usually employed with a co-catalyst deposited onto the surface to enhance charge carriers’ separation and catalyze surface charge transfer reactions. The deposition of a co-catalyst on the TiO2 nanoparticle surface represents one successful way to enhance the activity of the photocatalyst through a modification of its surface and redox properties. In this context, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy coupled with elemental analysis by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) is fundamental for studying and understanding the effect of the nanoparticle morphology on the functional properties of shape-controlled TiO2 crystals (bipyramides, platelets, and elongated particles). Different types of metal-semiconductor combinations, TiO2 shapes and dopant metals (Ag, Pt, etc) and metal concentrations will be discussed. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Photocatalysis KW - Electron microscopy KW - EDS KW - Metal-semiconductor PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927622010078 VL - 28 IS - Suppl. 1 SP - 2658 EP - 2660 PB - Cambridge University Press AN - OPUS4-55436 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -