Publications by authors named "Moritz Zelenka"
Understanding acid-glycol switchable emulsifiers on the molecular scale.
J Colloid Interface Sci
February 2025
Switchable emulsifiers are commonly studied at the macroscopic scale without significant insight into the molecular properties and processes underpinning their behaviour. This work aims to investigate on the molecular scale a switchable emulsifier comprising poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA). This emulsifier forms stable oil/water emulsions at pH > 10, but the emulsion becomes unstable at pH < 3 due to droplet aggregation.
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- The study focuses on the hole-mediated oxidation reaction, a key step in photocatalytic water dissociation, using advanced time-resolved spectroscopy methods.
- Researchers investigate the reaction at the surface of the TiO photocatalyst in contact with liquid water, revealing that water dissociation occurs within 20 picoseconds after UV light activation.
- The findings show the conversion of water into Ti-OH groups and deprotonation occurs similarly at both acidic (pH 3) and basic (pH 11) conditions, providing insights for improving photocatalyst design.
The direct conversion of solar energy to hydrogen is considered as a possible method to produce carbon neutral hydrogen fuel. The mechanism of photocatalytic water splitting involves the chemical breakdown of water and re-assembly into hydrogen and oxygen at the interface of a photocatalyst. The selection rules of a suitable material are well established, but the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms, occurring at the interface between the catalyst and the water, remains missing.
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