Novel Synthesis Route of Plasmonic CuS Quantum Dots as Efficient Co-Catalysts to TiO/Ti for Light-Assisted Water Splitting.

Self-doped CuS nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized via microwave-assisted polyol process to act as co-catalysts to TiO nanofiber (NF)-based photoanodes to achieve higher photocurrents on visible light-assisted water electrolysis. The strategy adopted to perform the copper cation sulfidation in polyol allowed us to overcome the challenges associated with the copper cation reactivity and particle size control. The impregnation of the CuS NPs on TiO NFs synthesized via hydrothermal corrosion of a metallic Ti support resulted in composites with increased visible and near-infrared light absorption compared to the pristine support.

Aquatic Fate and Ecotoxicology Effect of ZnS:Mn Quantum Dots on in Fresh Water.

With the increasing integration of nanomaterials into daily life, the potential ecotoxicological impacts of nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted increased attention from the scientific community. This study assessed the ecotoxicity of ZnS quantum dots (QDs) doped with varying molar concentrations of Mn on . The ZnS:Mn QDs were synthesized using the polyol method.

Water Vapor Photoelectrolysis in a Solid-State Photoelectrochemical Cell with TiO Nanotubes Loaded with CdS and CdSe Nanoparticles.

In this study, polyol-made CdS and CdSe crystalline nanoparticles (NPs) are loaded by impregnation on TiO nanotube arrays (TNTAs) for solar-simulated light-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water vapor splitting. For the first time, we introduce a safe way to utilize toxic, yet efficient photocatalysts by integration in solid-state PEC (SSPEC) cells. The enabling features of SSPEC cells are the surface protonic conduction mechanism on TiO and the use of polymeric electrolytes, such as Nafion instead of liquid ones, for operation with gaseous reactants, like water vapor from ambient humidity.

Preparation of FeO-Ag Nanocomposites with Silver Petals for SERS Application.

The formation of silver nanopetal-FeO poly-nanocrystals assemblies and the use of the resulting hetero-nanostructures as active substrates for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) application are here reported. In practice, about 180 nm sized polyol-made FeO spheres, constituted by 10 nm sized crystals, were functionalized by (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) to become positively charged, which can then electrostatically interact with negatively charged silver seeds. Silver petals were formed by seed-mediated growth in presence of Ag cations and self-assembly, using L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as mid-reducing and stabilizing agents, respectively.

Star-Shaped FeO-Au Core-Shell Nanoparticles: From Synthesis to SERS Application.

In this work, the preparation of magneto-plasmonic granular nanostructures and their evaluation as efficient substrates for magnetically assisted surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensing are discussed. These nanostructures consist of star-shaped gold Au shell grown on iron oxide FeO multicores. They were prepared by seed-mediated growth of anisotropic, in shape gold nanosatellites attached to the surface of polyol-made iron oxide polycrystals.