Group members - Page 4 of 6 - TEAM OF PHOTOCATALYSIS

Thesis defended

23 October 2019

Michał Pacia has got his PhD degree. Congratulations!

Activation of O₂, H₂O and H₂O₂ in photoinduced electron transfer processes.

As part of the dissertation research was carried to recognize various aspects of activation of the O₂, H₂O and H₂O₂ presence of TiO₂ materials. In the case of anatase and rutile the influence of O₂ and H₂O₂ presence on ROS generation in the irradiated system was determined. It was proven that rutile, compared to anatase, performs better in both O₂ and H₂O₂ reduction. The influence of the exposed crystal facets on redox properties of materials were also investigated. The facets were put in an order (101) > (100) > (001) according to their activity in the H₂O₂ activation via reduction. Monocrystalline rutile materials, with exposed(110), (101) or (001) facets were also tested. The next step involved tests on surface modified TiO₂ materials. Proper approach to determining the EBG in the case of surface modified materials was established. Activity of materials modified with organic compounds coordinating to the surface of TiO₂ was tested. Additionally, a series of other semiconductors were investigated in terms of H₂O and H₂O₂ activation properties. One of the crucial parts of this work was to verify the suitability of available ROS detection and determination methods in the systems containing heterogeneous photocatalysts. Weaknesses of methods based on reduction of XTT and chemiluminescence of luminol have been shown. Both high selectivity and sensitivity of the method to analyze production of hydroxyl radicals based on the oxidation of TA was confirmed. By means of EPR spectroscopy, EDTA has been confirmed to have very good holes quenching properties.

Visiting professor

1 October 2019

Our group becomes more and more international. For one month we will host Prof. Minoru Mizuhata from Kobe University. During his stay at our faculty, the professor will conduct two courses entitled “Ceramics prepared by low-temperature synthesis-soft solution process” and “Structure and properties of electrolyte solution”.

Podobny obraz

Scientific cooperation

30 September 2019

The scientific cooperation with Prof. Radim Beranek and his group reaches a new level – Paweł Mikrut spent three months in the Institute of Electrochemistry – Ulm University.

Agnieszka got married

21 September 2019

Open positions

9 July 2019

We are glad to inform that we are looking for people to work within the TEAM project “In quest of a more efficient quantum solar energy exploitation in energy downhill and uphill photocatalytic processes (INGENIOUS)”

More detailed offer can be downloaded from following link:

Detailed offer for students

Open positions

8 July 2019

We are glad to inform that we are looking for PhD students to work within the SHENG-1 project “Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide based on p-type semiconductors “.

More detailed offer can be downloaded from the following link:

Detailed offer for PhD

Postdoc wanted

18 June 2019

We are looking for postdoctoral fellow to work within the TEAM project “In quest of a more efficient quantum solar energy exploitation in energy downhill and uphill photocatalytic processes (INGENIOUS)”

More info can be found here and here.

Thesis defended

10 June 2019

Mateusz Trochowski has got his PhD degree. Congratulations!

Diversity of the photosensitization mechanisms of surface-functionalized oxide semiconductors.

The doctoral thesis is focused on verification of four hypotheses related to the photosensitization mechanisms of titanium(IV) oxide and zinc oxide. The first hypothesis concerned the possibility of protection of photosensitizers bound to the TiO₂ surface by covering them with a thin layer of titanium(IV) oxide to improve the photostability. The strategy worked only for a minority of the tested samples. The second hypothesis was the higher stability of dihydroxy derivatives of anthraquinone comparised to catechol adsorbed at TiO₂. Long-term photocatalytic tests have shown that all obtained materials are more photostable than the reference catechol/TiO₂ system and some of them are also more active. The third problem concerned investigation how insignificant modifications of photocatalysts can significantly change their photocatalytic activity. A significant effect on photocatalytic activity, of the studied materials, in particular upon visible light irradiation, was observed, although changes in the phase composition, spectroscopic properties and morphology of the samples tested were negligible. The fourth hypothesis concerned determining of the mechanisms of localized surface plasmon resonance interaction with ZnO modified with Au nanoparticles. The analysis of emission spectra has shown that photosensitization of ZnO occurs most probably via the transfer of “hot” electrons.