title: Noble metal-titania hybrid nanoparticle clusters and the interaction to proteins for photo-catalysis in aqueous environments.
abstract: We report a systematic study of the controlled synthesis of new hybrid spherical TiO2nanoparticle cluster (TiO2-NPC) homogeneously decorated with noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) by gas-phase evaporation-induced self-assembly. Silver NP (AgNP) was used as the representative noble metal NP. The degradation of methyl blue (MB) in the aqueous solution was chosen as the representative system for the study of photocatalysis, which were tested and evaluated with respect to irradiation conditions and the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA). The results show that particle size and chemical composition of the hybrid nanostructure were tunable by choosing the suitable concentration of precursors. The photocatalytic activity of AgNP-decorated TiO2-NPC was strongly affected by the light irradiation and the ligand-nanoparticle interfacial interaction. The presence of BSA influenced molecular conjugation to the surface of the hybrid nanostructure. Under conditions of simultaneous competitive adsorption of MB and BSA, the combination of AgNPs improved the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2-NPC-based catalysts. Our work describes a prototype methodology to fabricate TiO2-NPC homogeneously decorated with noble metal NPs with well-controlled material properties. The mechanistic understanding developed in this study can be useful for the future optimization of material properties of hybrid nanostructures versus interfacial interactions with the surrounding molecules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Tung-Yu
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Hong-Li
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Yi-Chen
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Wei-Chang
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Je-Wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Shih-Yuan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: dhtsai@mx.nthu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: De-Hao
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D001557:Benzenesulfonates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002384:Catalysis; D002417:Cattle; D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010782:Photolysis; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000737:chemistry; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D001557:Benzenesulfonates; D003102:Colloids; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C009495:titanium dioxide; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D012834:Silver; C414357:Methyl Blue; D014025:Titanium
keywords: Aerosol; Colloid; Gas-phase; Nanoparticle; P25; Photocatalysis; Self-assembly; Silver; Stability; Titania