TY - JOUR A1 - Wintzheimer, S. A1 - Szczerba, Wojciech A1 - de Oliveira Guilherme Buzanich, Ana A1 - Kashiwaya, S. A1 - Klein, A. A1 - Jaegermann, W. A1 - Toupance, T. A1 - Shmeliov, A. A1 - Nicolosi, V. A1 - Heuzé, K. A1 - Mandel, K. A1 - Dembski, S. T1 - Discovering the determining parameters for the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 colloids based on an anomalous dependence on the specific surface area N2 - The photocatalytic (PC) performance of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles strongly depends on their specific surface, the presence of crystal defects, their crystal phase, and the exposed crystal facets. In order to understand which of these factors contributes most significantly to the PC activity of TiO2 colloids, all of them have to be individually analyzed. This study entails the synthesis of five anatase nanocrystal samples. By maintaining the same reactant ratios as well as hydrothermal sol–gel synthesis route and only varying the autoclaving time or temperature, different crystallite sizes are obtained under comparable experimental conditions. A decrease in PC performance with increase in specific surface area is found. Such an unexpected counterintuitive result establishes the basis for a better understanding of the crucial factors that ultimately determine the PC activity. These are investigated by studying nanocrystals bulk and surface structure and morphology using a selection of complementary analysis methods (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS), X-ray diffraction (XRD)…). It is found that a change in the nanocrystal morphology from an equilibrium state truncated tetragonal bipyramid to a more elongated rod-like structure accompanied by an increase in oxygen vacancies is responsible for an augmented PC activity of the TiO2 nanocrystals. KW - Ti-based colloids KW - Photocatalysis KW - Spectroscopy KW - XAFS PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ppsc.201800216 SN - 0934-0866 SN - 1521-4117 VL - 35 IS - 9 SP - 1800216, 1 EP - 10 PB - Wiley Online Library AN - OPUS4-46068 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Szczerba, Wojciech A1 - Zukrowski, J. A1 - Przybylski, M. A1 - Sikora, M. A1 - Safonova, O. A1 - Shmeliov, A. A1 - Nicolosi, V. A1 - Schneider, M. A1 - Granath, T. A1 - Oppmann, M. A1 - Straßer, M. A1 - Mandel, K. T1 - Pushing up the magnetisation values for iron oxide nanoparticles via zinc doping: X-ray studies on the particle's sub-nano structure of different synthesis routes N2 - The maximum magnetisation (saturation magnetisation) obtainable for iron oxide nanoparticles can be increased by doping the nanocrystals with non-magnetic elements such as zinc. Herein, we closely study how only slightly different synthesis approaches towards such doped nanoparticles strongly influence the resulting sub-nano/atomic structure. We compare two co-precipitation approaches, where we only vary the base (NaOH versus NH3), and a thermal decomposition route. These methods are the most commonly applied ones for synthesising doped iron oxide nanoparticles. The measurable magnetisation change upon zinc doping is about the same for all systems. However, the sub-nano structure, which we studied with Mössbauer and X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy, differs tremendously. We found evidence that a much more complex picture has to be drawn regarding what happens upon Zn doping compared to what textbooks tell us about the mechanism. Our work demonstrates that it is crucial to study the obtained structures very precisely when “playing” with the atomic order in iron oxide nanocrystals. KW - Magnetic nanoparticles KW - Zinc ferrite KW - magnetic saturation KW - Mössbauer KW - XAFS KW - Synthesis KW - XRD PY - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-379583 VL - 18 SP - 25221 EP - 25229 PB - RSC Publishing AN - OPUS4-37958 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Szczerba, Wojciech A1 - Schneider, M. A1 - Żukrowski, J. A1 - de Oliveira Guilherme Buzanich, Ana A1 - Riesemeier, Heinrich A1 - Sikora, M. A1 - Mandel, K. T1 - Spectroscopic Study of the Role of Metal Ions in the Adsorption Process of Phosphate in Nanoscaled Adsorbers Based on Metal (Zn/ Fe/Zr) Oxyhydroxides N2 - Currently great effort is made to find materials and technologies for the recycling of phosphate from wastewater. Herein, we present an in-depth study of the Phosphate adsorption mechanism of a promising adsorber material, a Zn−Fe−Zr oxyhydroxide-based nanostructured precipitate. The behavior of the multicomponent nanomaterial, consisting of both crystalline and amorphous parts, is investigated via X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy and Mössbauer spectroscopy, revealing the importance of the nanostructured composition for the phosphate adsorption. We found evidence that adsorption takes place especially in the vicinity of iron sites in the amorphous part of the material. KW - Zn-Fe-Zr nanoparticles KW - Adsorption of phosphate KW - XAFS KW - Catalysis PY - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b04773 SN - 1932-7447 VL - 121 IS - 45 SP - 25033 EP - 25042 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-43348 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -