Search

A highly reproducible and controllable deposition procedure for gold nanostructures on a titanium dioxide (TiO2) surface using femtosecond laser light has been demonstrated. This is realized by precisely focusing onto the TiO2 surface in the presence of a pure gold ion solution. The deposition is demonstrated both in dot arrays and line structures. Thanks to the multi-photon excitation, we observe that the deposition area of the nanostructures can be confined to a degree far greater than the diffraction limited focal spot. Finally, we demonstrate that catalytic activity with visible light irradiation is enhanced, proving the applicability of our new deposition technique to the catalytic field. ispartof: Nanoscale vol:9 issue:35 pages:13025-13033 ispartof: location:England status: published

Metal nanoparticle photo-deposition on TiO2 enhances the semiconductor catalytic activity. We show for the first time that strong adsorption of simple diol-molecules improves the photo-deposition, by introducing a TiO2 midgap state and blocking active sites. The resulting photo-deposited gold nanoparticles are mono-dispersed and well-distributed over the TiO2 particles. The photo-catalytic activity of the Au/TiO2 systems obtained in ethyleneglycol was significantly enhanced compared to those prepared in conventional solvents, such as water and ethanol.