Catalytic and optical properties of surface attached and matrix embedded quantum dots
EMSL Project ID
19845
Abstract
Metal clusters attached on a dielectric surface represent typical structure of catalyst particles on a supporting material. It is far from clear regarding the nature of the interaction between the catalyst particle and the supporting material, and therefore the origin of a specific catalytic behavior. For example, it has been found that Au nanoclusters with a size smaller than 4 nm and supported on TiO2 possess high activity. Similarly, it is known that physical properties of a matrix can be modified by dispersion of a secondary phase particle, such as metal particles. It has been reported that MgO dispersed with Au nanoclusters shows non-linear optical properties. The origin of this behavior was contributed to electron transfer between the metal clusters and quantum antidots formed at the immediate neighborhood of the metal clusters. In the proposed research, we will use ion implantation (accelerator) method to tailor quantum dots and will investigate the properties of the quantum dots, such as catalytic and optical properties, with respect to their microstructural characteristics. The microstructural features will be investigated using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The systems will be investigated includes Si in LaAlO3 and precious metals in SrTiO3, MgO, and TiO2 rutile.Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2006-08-01
End Date
2009-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members