title: A new route to size and population control of silver clusters on colloidal TiO₂ nanocrystals.
abstract: Formation of hybrid Ag-TiO(2) nanocrystals (NCs) in which Ag clusters are uniformly deposited on individual TiO(2) NC surface has been achieved by using hydrophobic surfactant-capped TiO(2) NCs in combination with a photodeposition technique. The population of Ag clusters on the individual TiO(2) NC surface can be controlled by the degree of hydrophobicity (e.g., the number of vacant sites) on the TiO(2) NC surface while their size may be altered simply by varying irradiation time. A reversible change in color of the resulting hybrid Ag-TiO(2) NCs is induced by alternating UV light and visible-light illumination; however, the size and population of Ag clusters on TiO(2) NCs are almost unchanged. Furthermore, these materials also exhibit much higher photocatalytic performance as compared to that of Ag supported on commercial TiO(2)-P25.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Centre de recherche sur les propriétés des interfaces et la catalyse (CERPIC), Laval University, Quebec G1 V 0A6, Canada.
authors.forename: Cao-Thang
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Dinh
authors.forename: Thanh-Dinh
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Freddy
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kleitz
authors.forename: Trong-On
authors.initials: TO
authors.lastname: Do