Low-cost synthesis of titanium dioxide anatase nanoclusters as advanced materials for hydrogen photoproduction

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Sub-nm titanium dioxide (TiO2) clusters are synthesized via the hydrolysis of TiCl4 in order to produce clean and surfactant-free oxide surfaces. By controlling...     

Molecular dynamics simulation of titanium dioxide nanoparticle sintering

Nanoparticles have been an area of active research in recent years due to their properties, which can be greatly different from the bulk. In this work, we study the sintering of TiO2 nanoparticles using molecular dynamics simulations. Such sintering occurs in flame reactors where nanotitania is prepared via the chloride process. Decrease in free energy due to reduction in surface area is the main driving force for sintering of particles. Simulations, at various starting temperatures and orientations, indicate that the process of sintering is strongly affected by temperature and initial orientation. Extremely high diffusion of ions in the neck region of sintering nanoparticles supports the idea that solid-state diffusion is significant in metal-oxide nanoparticle sintering. It is found that the dipole-dipole interaction between sintering nanoparticles plays a very important role at temperatures away from the melting point. The duration of the simulation is not enough to observe the complete sintering process, but important initial stages are well studied.     

Photocatalytic activity enhancement in doped titanium dioxide by crystal defects

Visible light sensitive Fe(3+) and Ce(4+) co-doped nano TiO(2) photocatalyst has been prepared by a modified aqueous sol-gel method and the activity has been measured in terms of degradation of MB dye. Both dopants shifted the absorption profile of TiO(2) to the visible region and improved activity. Fe(3+) ions trapped the charge carriers due to the stable electronic configuration and improved their separation. Ce(4+) ions, which were mainly located at the grain boundaries, cause dislocations by bending the valence and conduction bands of TiO(2) and prevent the recombination of photoexcited electrons and holes. The co-doped TiO(2) compositions exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than that of pure titania and commercially available Degussa P25 under visible light by utilising the individual and synergistic contributions of Fe(3+) and Ce(4+) dopants, respectively.     

Molecular-dynamics simulation of a ceramide bilayer

Ceramide is the simplest lipid in the biologically important class of glycosphingolipids. Ceramide is an important signaling molecule and a major component of the strateum corneum layer in the skin. In order to begin to understand the biophysical properties of ceramide, we have carried out a molecular-dynamics simulation of a hydrated 16:0 ceramide lipid bilayer at 368 K (5 degrees above the main phase transition). In this paper we describe the simulation and present the resulting properties of the bilayer. We compare the properties of the simulated ceramide bilayer to an earlier simulation of 18:0 sphingomyelin, and we discuss the results as they relate to experimental data for ceramide and other sphingolipids. The most significant differences arise at the lipid/water interface, where the lack of a large ceramide polar group leads to a different electron density and a different electrostatic potential but, surprisingly, not a different overall "dipole potential," when ceramide is compared to sphingomyelin.     

Molecular simulation of the homogeneous crystal nucleation of carbon dioxide

We report on a molecular simulation study of the homogeneous nucleation of CO2 in the supercooled liquid at low pressure (P = 5 MPa) and for degrees of supercooling ranging from 32% to 60%. In all cases, regardless of the degree of supercooling, the structure of the crystal nuclei is that of the Pa3 phase, the thermodynamically stable phase. For the more moderate degree of supercooling of 32%, the nucleation is an activated process and requires a method to sample states of high free energy. In this work, we apply a series of bias potentials, which promote the ordering of the centers of mass of the molecules and allow us to gradually grow crystal nuclei. The reliability of the results so obtained is assessed by studying the evolution of the nuclei in the absence of any bias potential, and by determining their probability of growth. We estimate that the size of the critical nucleus, for which the probability of growth is 0.5, is approximately 240 molecules. Throughout the nucleation process, the crystal nuclei clearly exhibit a Pa3 structure, in apparent contradiction with Ostwald's rule of stages. The other polymorphs have a much larger free energy. This makes their formation highly unlikely and accounts for the fact that the nucleation of CO2 proceeds directly in the stable Pa3 structure.     

Molecular-dynamics simulation of crystallization in helical polymers

The molecular mechanism of crystallization in helical polymers is a fascinating but very difficult subject of research. We here report our recent efforts toward better understanding of the crystallization in helical polymers by use of molecular-dynamics simulation. With straightforward approaches to the problem being quite difficult, we adopt a different strategy of categorizing the helical polymers into two distinct types: one type is a simple bare helix which is essentially made of backbone atomic groups only and has smoother molecular contours, and the other is a more general helix having large side groups that would considerably hamper molecular motion and crystallization. Both types of helical polymers are here constructed by use of the united atom model, but they show quite distinct crystallization behavior; the crystallization of the former-type polymer is rather fast, while that of the latter-type polymer is extremely slow. We find that the bare helix, when rapidly cooled in free three-dimensional space, freezes into partially ordered state with limited intramolecular and intermolecular orders, and that remarkable improvement of order and growth of an ordered chain-folded crystallite occurs by very long-time annealing of the partially ordered state around the apparent freezing temperature. We also study crystallization of the bare helix upon a growth surface; the crystallization in this case proceeds much faster through highly cooperative process of the intermolecular and the intramolecular degrees of freedom. On the other hand, crystallization of the realistic model of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) having pendant methylene groups is found to be extremely sluggish. By restricting the spatial dimension of the system thereby fully disentangling the chain, we observe that the molecule of iPP crystallizes very quickly onto the crystal substrate made of the same iPP chain. Quite remarkable is that the molecule of iPP strictly recognizes the helical sense of the substrate chain and efficiently selects its chirality during crystallization.     

Photochronocoulometric measurement of the coverage of surface-bound dyes on titanium dioxide crystal surfaces

Atomically flat terraced single-crystal anatase and rutile surfaces can be prepared allowing for the reproducible adsorption of covalently attached sensitizing dyes. Once reproducible surfaces and dye coverages are achieved, a photochronocoulometric technique is developed to measure the surface coverage of the dyes, an important parameter in determining the efficiency of sensitization. The surface-bound dyes are irreversibly oxidized by exposure to a light pulse with the n-type oxide semiconductor electrode held in depletion. A double-exponential decay of the subsequent photocurrent is then measured, where the integration of the faster decay is associated with the adsorbed dye coverage and the second much slower decay is attributed to trace regenerators, including water, in the nonaqueous electrolyte. The ruthenium-based N3 dye shows the expected linear dependence of the rate constant on light intensity whereas a dicarboxylated thiacyanine dye shows a square root dependence of its photooxidation rate on light intensity. The sublinear response of the thiacyanine dye is discussed in terms of the more complex surface chemistry that is known for this family of sensitizing dyes.     

二氧化钛微晶结构和光催化性能关联性研究

研究了不同煅烧温度、煅烧时间的系列二氧化钛样品悬浮体系光催化降解X-3B活性艳红的催化活性。分析了晶粒尺寸、晶相、晶格畸变应力和光催化体系等诸多因素对二氧化钛光催化活性的影响。发现晶格畸变应力对空穴电子对复合速率的影响在诸因素中占主导地位,并在一定程度上决定了二氧化钛悬浮体系的光催化效能。     

Molecular-dynamics simulation of the surface layer of a nonionic micelle

A spherical micelle structure has been studied for cationic (n-dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride) and nonionic (hexaethylene glycol mono-n-hexyl ether) surfactants in pure water and a sodium chloride solution. The molecular-dynamics has been used to simulate the self-assembly of aggregates from an initially homogeneous mixture of water and surfactant molecules and to gain insight into the structure of micelles and their surface layers. The radial distribution functions obtained for charged components have been employed to calculate the local electric potentials of the micelles and the contributions from the charges of water atoms, ions, and a surfactant to it. It has been shown that, similarly to previously studied ionic micelles, in nonionic surfactant micelles, the contributions from water molecules and polar groups (and ions in the case of the salt solution) to the electric potential are mutually compensated in the region of the electrical double layer. Therefore, the resultant electric potential of the surface layer rapidly tends to zero.     

Visible spectrum of titanium dioxide

The electronic spectrum in the region 17?500 cm(-1) to 18?850 cm(-1) of a cold molecular beam of TiO(2) has been investigated using laser induced fluorescence (LIF) and mass-resolved resonance enhanced multi-photoionization (REMPI) spectroscopy. Bands at 18?412 cm(-1), 18?470 cm(-1) and 18?655 cm(-1) were recorded at a resolution of 35 MHz, rotationally analyzed, and assigned as the ?(1)B(2) (0,1,2) ←X[combining tilde](1)A(1) (0,0,0), ?(1)B(2) (1,0,0) ←X[combining tilde](1)A(1) (0,0,0) and ?(1)B(2) (1,1,0) ←X[combining tilde](1)A(1) (0,0,0) transitions. The dispersed fluorescence from the ?(1)B(2) (0,1,2) and ?(1)B(2) (1,0,0) levels were combined with previous results to produce an improved set of vibrational parameters for the X[combining tilde](1)A(1) state. The optical Stark effect in the ?(1)B(2) (0,1,2) ←X[combining tilde](1)A(1) (0,0,0) and ?(1)B(2) (1,0,0) ←X[combining tilde](1)A(1) (0,0,0) bands were recorded and combined with earlier results for ?(1)B(2) (1,1,0) ←X[combining tilde](1)A(1) (0,0,0) to determine the permanent electric dipole moment for these states. The origin and harmonic vibrational constants for the ?(1)B(2) state are determined to be: T(000) = 17?593(5) cm(-1), ω(1) = 876(3) cm(-1), ω(2) = 184(1) cm(-1), and ω(3) = 316(2) cm(-1). A normal coordinate analysis was performed and Franck-Condon factors calculated.     

Raman spectra of titanium dioxide

First-order Raman spectra have been recorded at room temperature for the anatase and rutile phases of polycrystalline titanium dioxide using an argon ion laser as exciter. The high-temperature rutile phase was found to be stabilized at temperatures below 450°C. Anatase transforms to rutile phase at ～750°C. All the Raman active fundamentals predicted by group theory are observed.     

Defect disorder of titanium dioxide

The present work derived defect disorder diagram representing the effect of oxygen activity on the concentration of both ionic and electronic defects for undoped TiO2. This diagram was determined using the equilibrium constants derived in the present work, including (i) the intrinsic electronic equilibrium constant, (ii) the equilibrium constant for the formation of oxygen vacancies, and (iii) equilibrium constant for the formation of titanium vacancies. These equilibrium constants are consistent with three properties determined independently, including: electrical conductivity, thermoelectric power and change of mass determined by thermogravimetry. The derived defect disorder diagram may be used for tailoring semiconducting properties of TiO2 that are desired for specific applications through the selection of optimized processing conditions.     

Characterization of synthesized titanium oxide nanoclusters by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Titania represents an important material that has wide applications. The bactericidal efficiency of TiO(2) has been shown to be dependent on the size of the nanoparticles, so it is important to be able to reliably estimate their dimensions. In this study, a stable TiO(2) cluster suspension is produced by the thermal solvent process, and ultrasmall clusters (<1 nm) with different sizes are obtained by size-selection treatment. MALDI-TOF-MS and LDI-TOF-MS are shown to be useful for characterization of these ultrasmall nanoparticles. Peak maxima are found to correlate with nanoparticle size, and the possibility of using these mass spectrometry-based approaches to estimate nanoparticle size is affirmed. The size distributions of TiO(2) nanoparticles obtained from MALDI- and LDI-TOF-MS are in good agreement with parallel TEM observations. Finally, PSD analysis of inorganic nanomaterials is performed and valuable information about the structure of analytes has been obtained.     

Molecular-dynamics simulation of model polymer nanocomposite rheology and comparison with experiment

The shear-rate dependence of viscosity is studied for model polymer melts containing various concentrations of spherical filler particles by molecular-dynamics simulations, and the results are compared with the experimental results for calcium-carbonate-filled polypropylene. Although there are some significant differences in scale between the simulated model polymer composite and the system used in the experiments, some important qualitative similarities in shear behavior are observed. The trends in the steady-state shear viscosities of the simulated polymer-filler system agree with those seen in the experimental results; shear viscosities, zero-shear viscosities, and the rate of shear thinning are all seen to increase with filler content in both the experimental and simulated systems. We observe a significant difference between the filler volume fraction dependence of the zero-shear viscosity of the simulated system and that of the experimental system that can be attributed to a large difference in the ratio of the filler particle radius to the radius of gyration of the polymer molecules. In the simulated system, the filler particles are so small that they only have a weak effect on the viscosity of the composite at low filler volume fraction, but in the experimental system, the viscosity of the composite increases rapidly with increasing filler volume fraction. Our results indicate that there exists a value of the ratio of the filler particle radius to the polymer radius of gyration such that the zero-shear-rate viscosity of the composite becomes approximately independent of the filler particle volume fraction.     

Nanotubes in Si-doped titanium dioxide

Silicon-doped metal oxide nanotubes are formed in Si-doped titanium dioxide prepared by a sol-gel technique.     

Molecular dynamic simulation of polymer and polymer-oxide nanoclusters

Small systems composed of 10 molecules of poly-p-xylylene or a TiO₂ cluster (rutile) surrounded by 10 molecules of poly-p-xylylene are modeled via the method of molecular dynamics. The thermodynamic characteristics, structure, and mobility of poly-p-xylylene chains in the model systems are studied in a wide temperature interval (195–995 K) and compared with the corresponding characteristics of a volume phase and an individual polymer chain. With increasing temperature, the mobility of monomer units increases; this process leads to disordering. At high temperatures, there is an evident tendency for loosening and further disintegration of an aggregate into individual chains, which adopt a Gaussian coil shape. These transitions are similar to the transitions of the folded individual molecule of poly-p-xylylene. Introduction of a TiO₂ nanoparticle into poly-p-xylylene has a strong effect on the characteristics of the system with short polymer chains, where the adhesion of poly-p-xylylene molecules on the TiO₂ surface is accompanied by disordering in the peripheral region.     

Bactericidal mode of titanium dioxide photocatalysis

When exposed to near-UV light, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) exhibits a strong bactericidal activity. However, the killing mechanism(s) underlying the TiO₂ photocatalytic reaction is not yet well understood. The aim of the present study is to investigate the cellular damage sites and their contribution to cell death. A sensitive approach using o-nitrophenol β- galactopyranosideside (ONPG) as the probe and Escherichia coli as model cells has been developed. This approach is used to illustrate damages to both the cell envelope and intracellular components caused by TiO₂ photocatalytic reaction. Treatment of E. coli with TiO₂ and near-UV light resulted in an immediate increase in permeability to small molecules such as ONPG, and the leakage of large molecules such as β- galactosidase after 20 min. Kinetic data showed that cell wall damage took place in less than 20 min, followed by a progressive damage of cytoplasmic membrane and intracellular components. The results from the ONPG assay correlated well with the loss of cell viability. Cell wall damage followed by cytoplasmic membrane damage leading to a direct intracellular attack has therefore been proposed as the sequence of events when microorganisms undergo TiO₂ photocatalytic attack. It has been found that smaller TiO₂ particles cause quicker intracellular damage. Evidence has been obtained that indicated that the TiO₂ photocatalytic reaction results in continued bactericidal activity after the UV illumination terminates.     

The fluorination of titanium dioxide surfaces

Summary Gaseous hydrogen fluoride gave a bulk attack on titanium dioxide but dilute aqueous hydrofluoric acid gave a partial surface fluorination. A specific fluoride for chloride exchange reaction occurs on chloride containing titanium dioxide surfaces. A weak and a strong form of fluoride adsorption may be distinguished, the former being removed by prolonged treatment with water, the latter requiring steam at 1020 K for its complete removal. Some infra-red, electrophoretic and acidity studies on various fluorinated surfaces are reported.

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Zusammenfassung Eine verdünnte wäßrige Fluorwasserstoffsäure fluoriert Titandioxid teilweise an der Oberfläche, während Fluorwasserstoffgas auch das Kristallinnere angreift. Eine spezifische Austauschreaktion Fluorid gegen Chlorid tritt an chloridhaltigen Titandioxidoberflächen auf. Man kann zwischen einer schwachen und einer starken Fluoridadsorption unterscheiden. Die schwächer adsorbierten Fluoridionen werden durch längere Behandlung mit Wasser verdrängt, die stärker adsorbierten dagegen nur durch Dampf bei 1020 K. In der Arbeit wird außerdem über IR-Studien sowie über elektrophoretische Messungen und Aziditätsuntersuchungen an verschiedenen fluorierten Oberflächen berichtet.