Surface Science Group has experience with various methods of nanoparticle (NP) and nanomaterial synthesis, a brief overview is provided on this page.
Photodeposition of Ag-Au mono- and bimetallic NPs
Surface Science employs an in-house method for liquid phase photodeposition of noble metal nanoparticles.
In photodeposition, photoactive substrate (TiO2 nanoparticles or thin films) is immersed in solution of gold chloride (for Au NP deposition) or silver nitrate (for Ag NP deposition). When illuminated with bright UV light, metal is reduced from solution on the surface by the photogenerated charges and forms nanoparticles strongly attached to the surface. When deposition of gold and silver is performed sequentially, the morphology of resulting NPs is defined by the deposition order, creating Au-core Ag-shell NPs or AgAu alloy NPs [Nanoscale Advances 2022]. In our recent work, we show that photodeposited noble metal nanoparticles enhance photocatalytic activity of TiO2 towards methylene blue photodegradation and photocatalytic H2 production via plasmonic enhancement and improvement in charge transfer, with highest activity for Au-core Ag-shell NP morphology.
Liquid Flame Spray deposition of Ag, FeOx NPs and others
Thanks to our collaborators in Aerosol Physics Laboratory Surface Science research group is involved in publication of articles involving flame-based nanoparticle deposition methods. Recent highlights include deposition of plasmonic Ag nanoparticles with adjustable extinction spectra to enhance photocatalytic activity of ALD TiO2; thin film photocatalysts [Materials and Design 2024].
Atomic Layer Deposition of CuOx NPs
Currently in development at Surface Science is a process for Atomic Layer Deposition of CuOx nanoparticles.