Ultra-stable Molecule-Surface Architectures at Metal Oxides: Structure, Bonding, and Electron-transfer Processes

[摘要] Research funded by this project focused on the development of improved strategies for functionalization of metal oxides to enhance charge-transfer processes relevant to solar energy conversion. Initial studies included Fe2O3, WO3, TiO2, SnO2, and ZnO as model oxide systems; these systems were chosen due to differences in metal oxidation state and chemical bonding types in these oxides. Later studies focused largely on SnO2 and ZnO, as these materials show particularly promising surface chemistry, have high electron mobility, and can be readily grown in both spherical nanoparticles and as elongated nanorods. New molecules were synthesized that allowed the direct chemical assembly of novel nanoparticle ?dyadic? structures in which two different oxide materials are chemically joined, leading to an interface that enhances the separation of of charge upon illumination. We demonstrated that such junctions enhance photocatalytic efficiency using model organic compounds. A separate effort focused on novel approaches to linking dye molecules to SnO2 and ZnO as a way to enhance solar conversion efficiency. A novel type of surface binding through

[发布日期] 2013-12-07

[学科分类] 再生能源与代替技术

[关键词] Solar Photochemistry;Metal oxides