6 Materialchemie
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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.
The characterization of a catalyst often occurs by averaging over large areas of the catalyst material. On the other hand, optical probing is easily achieved at a resolution at the micrometer scale, specifically in microspectroscopy. Here, using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) mapping of larger areas with micrometer-sized spots that contain tens to hundreds of supported gold nanoparticles each, the photoinduced dimerization of p-aminothiophenol (PATP) to 4,4′-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) was monitored. The mapping data reveal an inhomogeneous distribution of catalytic activity in the plasmon-catalyzed reaction in spite of a very homogeneous plasmonic enhancement of the optical signals in SERS. The results lead to the conclusion that only a fraction of the nanostructures may be responsible for a high catalytic activity. The high spot-to-spot variation in catalytic activity is also demonstrated for DMAB formation by the plasmon-catalyzed reduction from p-nitrothiophenol (PNTP) and confirms that an improvement of the accuracy and reproducibility in the characterization of catalytic reactions can be achieved by microspectroscopic probing of many positions. Using SERS micromapping during the incubation of PATP, we demonstrate that the reaction occurs during the incubation process and is influenced by different parameters, leading to the conclusion of dimerization in a gold-catalyzed, nonphotochemical reaction as an alternative to the plasmon-catalyzed process. The results have implications for the future characterization of new catalyst materials as well as for optical sensing using plasmonic materials.