title: Plasma synthesis of polymer-capped dye-sensitised anatase nanopowders for visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution.
abstract: Visible-light-driven photocatalysis is currently attracting a great deal of attention because of its potential application in solar water splitting. However, the development of efficient and durable catalyst systems is still a challenging problem. In Ru dye-sensitised TiO(2) nanopowders, catalyst performances are found to decline as a result of poor bonding of the dye molecule to the TiO(2) surface and subsequent detachment and self-aggregation of the dye. Our strategy to improve the stability of the dye-TiO(2) interface is the encapsulation of the dye/TiO(2) assembly in an amino-group-containing polyallylamine layer anchored to TiO(2). A low-pressure pulsed microwave discharge plasma polymerization process was employed to coat a commercial anatase nanopowder with a thin polyallylamine layer to nanoconfine the adsorbed dye molecules. Electron microscopy and UV/Vis spectroscopy was carried out to characterise the resulting encapsulated nanostructures. The long-term stability of the new nanomaterial as the photoactive component of a water reduction catalyst system for H(2) evolution investigated in a slurry reactor under visible-light irradiation showed stable evolution rates over a period of several days.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 2, 17489 Greifswald, Germany. angela.kruth@inp-greifswald.de
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kruth
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Beweries
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brüser
authors.forename: Klaus-Dieter
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Weltmann
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D008027:Light; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D011073:Polyamines / Q000737:chemistry; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D011073:Polyamines; C009495:titanium dioxide; C063994:polyallylamine; D006859:Hydrogen; D014025:Titanium