New Mechanism for Long Photo-Induced Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in Au Nanoparticles Embedded in TiO.

The photo-induced enhanced Raman spectroscopy (PIERS) effect is a phenomenon taking place when plasmonic nanoparticles deposited on a semiconductor are illuminated by UV light prior to Raman measurement. Results from the literature show that the PIERS effect lasts for about an hour. The proposed mechanism for this effect is the creation of oxygen vacancies in the semiconductor that would create a path for charge transfer between the analyte and the nanoparticles.

Nanoporous Titanium (Oxy)nitride Films as Broadband Solar Absorbers.

Broadband absorption of solar light is a key aspect in many applications that involve an efficient conversion of solar energy to heat. Titanium nitride (TiN)-based materials, in the form of periodic arrays of nanostructures or multilayers, can promote significant heat generation upon illumination thanks to their efficient light absorption and refractory character. In this work, pulsed laser deposition was chosen as a synthesis technique to shift metallic bulk-like TiN to nanoparticle-assembled hierarchical oxynitride (TiON) films by increasing the background gas deposition pressure.

Syngas Evolution from CO Electroreduction by Porous Au Nanostructures.

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO recently emerged as a viable solution in view of changing the common belief and considering carbon dioxide as a valuable reactant instead of a waste product. In this view, we herein propose the one-step synthesis of gold nanostructures of different morphologies grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide electrodes by means of pulsed-laser deposition. The resulting cathodes are able to produce syngas mixtures of different compositions at overpotentials as low as 0.

Highly sensitive detection of estradiol by a SERS sensor based on TiO covered with gold nanoparticles.

We propose the use of gold nanoparticles grown on the surface of nanoporous TiO films as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors for the detection of 17β-estradiol. Gold deposition on top of a TiO surface leads to the formation of nanoparticles the plasmonic properties of which fulfil the requirements of a SERS sensor. The morphological and optical properties of the surface were investigated.