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“F-doped Co3O4 photocatalysts for sustainable H2 generation from water/ethanol”. Gasparotto A, Barreca D, Bekermann D, Devi A, Fischer RA, Fornasiero P, Gombac V, Lebedev OI, Maccato C, Montini T, Van Tendeloo G, Tondello E, Journal of the American Chemical Society 133, 19362 (2011). http://doi.org/10.1021/ja210078d
Abstract: p-Type Co3O4 nanostructured films are synthesized by a plasma-assisted process and tested in the photocatalytic production of H2 from water/ethanol solutions under both near-UV and solar irradiation. It is demonstrated that the introduction of fluorine into p-type Co3O4 results in a remarkable performance improvement with respect to the corresponding undoped oxide, highlighting F-doped Co3O4 films as highly promising systems for hydrogen generation. Notably, the obtained yields were among the best ever reported for similar semiconductor-based photocatalytic processes.
Keywords: A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Impact Factor: 13.858
Times cited: 114
DOI: 10.1021/ja210078d
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“Multi-functional copper oxide nanosystems for H2 sustainable production and sensing”. Gasparotto A, Barreca D, Fornasiero P, Gombac V, Lebedev O, Maccato C, Montini T, Tondello E, Van Tendeloo G, Comini E, Sberveglieri G, ECS transactions 25, 1169 (2009)
Abstract: This work focuses on the use of tailored copper oxide nanoarchitectures as multi-functional materials for the sustainable production of hydrogen and its on-line detection. An innovative copper(II) precursor, Cu(hfa)2TMEDA, was adopted in the CVD of CuxO (x=1,2) nanosystems under both O2 and O2+H2O atmospheres on Si(100) and Al2O3 substrates. A multi-technique characterization indicates that both the phase composition (from Cu2O to CuO) and morphology (from continuous films to entangled quasi-1D nanosystems) can be tailored by varying the growth temperature and reaction atmosphere. The obtained CuxO nanodeposits are active in the photocatalytic H2 production from aqueous solutions under UV-Vis irradiation and display interesting gas sensing performances towards hydrogen detection even at moderate temperatures.
Keywords: A2 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
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“Enhanced hydrogen production by photoreforming of renewable oxygenates through nanostructured Fe2O3 polymorphs”. Carraro G, Maccato C, Gasparotto A, Montini T, Turner S, Lebedev OI, Gombac V, Adami G, Van Tendeloo G, Barreca D, Fornasiero P;, Advanced functional materials 24, 372 (2014). http://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201302043
Abstract: Sunlight-driven hydrogen production via photoreforming of aqueous solutions containing renewable compounds is an attractive option for sustainable energy generation with reduced carbon footprint. Nevertheless, the absence of photocatalysts combining high efficiency and stability upon solar light activation has up to date strongly hindered the development of this technology. Herein, two scarcely investigated iron(III) oxide polymorphs, β- and ε-Fe2O3, possessing a remarkable activity in sunlight-activated H2 generation from aqueous solutions of renewable oxygenates (i.e., ethanol, glycerol, glucose) are reported. For β-Fe2O3 and ε-Fe2O3, H2 production rates up to 225 and 125 mmol h−1 m−2 are obtained, with significantly superior performances with respect to the commonly investigated α-Fe2O3.
Keywords: A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Impact Factor: 12.124
Times cited: 95
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201302043
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“Vertically oriented CuO/ZnO nanorod arrays : from plasma-assisted synthesis to photocatalytic H2 production”. Simon Q, Barreca D, Gasparotto A, Maccato C, Montini T, Gombac V, Fornasiero P, Lebedev OI, Turner S, Van Tendeloo G, Journal of materials chemistry 22, 11739 (2012). http://doi.org/10.1039/c2jm31589k
Abstract: 1D CuO/ZnO nanocomposites were grown on Si(100) substrates by means of an original two-step synthetic strategy. ZnO nanorod (NR) arrays were initially deposited by plasma enhanced-chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD) from an ArO2 atmosphere. Subsequently, tailored amounts of CuO were dispersed over zinc oxide matrices by radio frequency (RF)-sputtering of Cu from Ar plasmas, followed by thermal treatment in air. A thorough characterization of the obtained systems was carried out by X-ray photoelectron and X-ray excited-Auger electron spectroscopies (XPS and XE-AES), glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction (ED) and energy filtered-TEM (EF-TEM). Pure and highly oriented CuO/ZnO NR arrays, free from ternary ZnCuO phases and characterized by a copper(II) oxide content controllable as a function of the adopted RF-power, were successfully obtained. Interestingly, the structural relationships between the two oxides at the CuO/ZnO interface were found to depend on the overall CuO loading. The obtained nanocomposites displayed promising photocatalytic performances in H2 production by reforming of ethanolwater solutions under simulated solar illumination, paving the way to the sustainable conversion of solar light into chemical energy.
Keywords: A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Times cited: 74
DOI: 10.1039/c2jm31589k
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