Differently shaped au nanoparticles: A case study on the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of commercial TiO2

Abstract

In the present work, the influence of a gold nanoparticle's shape was investigated on the commercially available Evonik Aeroxide P25. By the variation of specific synthesis parameters, three differently shaped Au nanoparticles were synthetized and deposited on the surface of the chosen commercial titania. The nanoparticles and their composites' morphological and structural details were evaluated, applying different techniques such as Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The influence of the Au nanoparticles' shape was discussed by evaluating their photocatalytic efficiency on phenol and oxalic acid degradation and by investigating the H2 production efficacy of the selected composites. Major differences in their photocatalytic performance depending on the shape of the deposited noble metal were evidenced.