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In-Depth Dynamical Structural and Optical Study of Unconventional Au Based Plasmonic Core@ Catalytic Shell Antenna-Reactor System by Electron Microscopy and Simulations

Project description

Characterising advanced plasmonic core-catalytic shell catalysis systems

Catalysis is essential for most industrial reactions in fields from energy to food production. Catalytic systems have advanced greatly in recent years. One such promising system relies on noble metal nanoparticles that exhibit localised surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) – so-called hot electrons – when exposed to ultraviolet, visible or near-infrared electromagnetic fields. Decay of the hot electrons generates energy that can catalyse chemical reactions at the nanoparticle surfaces. Plasmonic metal-catalytic metal combinations enhance catalytic efficiency, but the structures are unstable. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the HotElecTEM project aims to investigate hot electron generation and transfer in unconventional plasmonic nanostructures at nanoscale resolution. Characterising stability factors will support next-generation photocatalytic materials.

Objective

Noble metal nanoparticles (Au, Ag, Cu) show unique optical properties called localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) when interacts with external electromagnetic (EM) waves in the UV-Vis-NIR region. Surface conduction electron of these nanomaterials can gain a huge amount of energy from the decay of the LSPR (Hot electrons) and can drive chemical reaction at the nanoparticle surface. Various metal-semiconductor combinations were observed to generate hot electron, but their catalytic efficiency is very low due to the presence of the Schottky barrier at the interfaces. Plasmonic metal-catalytic metal combination is a major breakthrough in this aspect and was observed to show very good catalytic efficiency contributed by hot electrons. However, they suffer from major structural instability during the reaction condition. Which is inherent in the conventional 3H-hexagonal closed-packed (HCP) structures of these plasmonic nanostructures. Unconventional plasmonic nanostructures of 4H/2H-HCP configuration is considered to have higher mechanical and structural stability compared to the conventional one. In this project, we will look into the hot-electron generation and transfer mechanism of novel bi-metallic unconventional Au nanotriangle (AuNT)@Pd and AuNT@graphene antenna@reactor system in nanoscale spatial resolution experimentally using electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope (Ac-TEM) and theoretically using time-dependent density functional theory approach. Besides TEM, the nanostructures will be characterized using other high end characterization tools to investigate their structural, optical and chemical properties. Stability of the nanostructures during reaction condition will be studied extensively using dynamical in-situ heating/cooling and biasing holder in an Ac-TEM. These studies will of extreme important to develop next generation photocatalytic materials to replace the conventional fossil-fuels.

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD DE ZARAGOZA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 181 152,96
Address
CALLE PEDRO CERBUNA 12
50009 ZARAGOZA
Spain

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Region
Noreste Aragón Zaragoza
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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