New Metal@Titania yolk@shell nanomaterials have been conceived for photocatalytic applications.  Progress will be reported in the three main directions of our work: (1) the synthetic strategies for the making of these yolk@shell nanostructures, (2) the photophysical characterization of their electronic properties; and (3) their chemical characterization in terms of mass transport through the shells and access to the metal, and their hydrogen production activity.  A higher degree of crystallinity of the titania shell, accomplished by a multistep synthesis involving several silica sacrificial layers, has been shown to lead to longer fluorescence lifetimes and higher photocatalytic activity.  Our results also have led us to revise the accepted explanation of the role of the metal as separating electron-hole excitations, and to suggest that its ability to enhance H2 production is because it promotes atomic hydrogen recombination instead.

Metal@Titania yolk@shell photocatalysts for hydrogen production from water

245th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.