Adsorption and advanced oxidation processes, especially photocatalysis, are amongst the most common water treatment methodologies. Unfortunately, using each of these techniques independently does not fully eliminate the pollutants of diverse nature, which are present in wastewater. Here, an avenue for multifunctional materials for water treatment is opened by reporting for the first time the preparation, characterization, and study of the properties of a novel multifunctional nanocomposite with both adsorption and visible-light-driven photocatalysis abilities. These multifunctional nanocomposites, namely iron (II, III) oxide/poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-methacrylic acid)/silver-titanium dioxide (Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2), are prepared by combining magnetic polymeric microspheres (Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)) with silver-decorated titanium dioxide nanoparticles (Ag-TiO2 NPs). Cationic dyes, such as basic fuchsin (BF), can be adsorbed by the nanocomposites thanks to the carboxylic groups of Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA) microspheres. Concomitantly, the presence of Ag-TiO2 NPs endows the system with the visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation ability toward antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin (CIP) and norfloxacin (NFX). Furthermore, the proposed nanocomposites show antibacterial activity toward Escherichia coli (E. coli), thanks to the presence of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). Due to the superparamagnetic properties of iron (II, III) oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs), the nanocomposites can be also recycled and reused, after the cleaning process, by using an external magnetic field.

Solar-driven photocatalysis is of great interest in terms of a sustainable use of energy and its application in wastewater treatment. The UV light-driven photogeneration of H2O2 by solar irradiation is an advanced strategy for the treatment of bacteria and recalcitrant pollutants in wastewater, but suffers from low efficiencies. In this work, a solar-driven multifunctional nanocomposite consisting of Tm3+ upconverting nanoparticles, poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(acrylic acid) and hydroxylated sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) was prepared. The components were crosslinked via a heating treatment at 170 °C, resulting in a non-leaching porous material. This nanocomposite exhibited excellent adsorption ability (89 % in 150 min) toward a 100 mg/L ciprofloxacin aqueous solution and proved to photodegrade it (50 %) upon 4 h artificial solar irradiation, exploiting photon upconversion processes. Moreover, an 80 % bactericidal effect against E. coli was registered upon sunlight irradiation. Altogether, these results suggest the feasibility of a solar-driven wastewater treatment based on upconverting nanoparticles.

Diese Arbeit zielt darauf ab, Struktur-Aktivitäts-Korrelationen zu untersuchen, indem die Zusammensetzungen von Au25-Nanoclustern auf atomarer Ebene manipuliert werden. Die Liganden der Au25-Nanocluster wurden zunächst so konstruiert, dass geeignete Liganden für Anwendungen in der Lichtumwandlung gefunden werden konnten, wobei vier verschiedene Au25-Nanocluster mit ähnlichen Metallkernstrukturen synthetisiert wurden. Photoelektrochemische Messungen wurden durchgeführt, um die Sensibilisierungsfähigkeiten dieser Nanocluster durch Abscheidung auf anatas TiO2-Substraten zu vergleichen. Quantenchemische Berechnungen wurden durchgeführt, um den Einfluss der schützenden Liganden auf die Photoaktivitäten zu untersuchen. Danach wurden die Nanocluster mit optimalen Photoaktivitäten weiterhin zur Erforschung der photocatalytischen Eigenschaften verwendet. Da Metallsites im Allgemeinen als aktive Zentren für heterogene Katalyse betrachtet wurden, wurden die Legierungseffekte des Metallkerns untersucht, indem Ag-Atome darin eingebaut wurden. Die Und die photokatalytische Wasserstoffentwicklung wurde als Referenzreaktion für die Erforschung des Metallkerns verwendet. Eine graduelle Einstellung der Metallzusammensetzung des Metallkerns wurde erreicht, die einen vulkanartigen Trend zur Wasserstoffentwicklung zeigte. Ab-initio-Berechnungen wurden verwendet, um die Beziehung zwischen der Metallzusammensetzung und den katalytischen Aktivitäten zu korrelieren. Darüber hinaus wurden die zentral, mono-dotierten Ag25-Nanocluster mit Heteroatomen der Gruppe VIII ebenfalls untersucht. Obwohl die gestaffelten Energieniveaus zwischen den Nanoclustern und dem Substrat die Wasserstoffproduktionsraten des gesamten Photokatalysesystems erheblich förderten, verschlechterten die Dotierung von Heteroatomen in den innersten Kern die photokatalytischen Aktivitäten der Nanocluster. / This work aims at studying structure-activity correlations by engineering the compositions of Au25 nanoclusters at atomic level. The ligands of Au25 nanoclusters were first engineered to determine suitable ligands for light conversion, where four different Au25 nanoclusters with similar core metal structures were synthesized. Photoelectrochemical measurements were employed to compare the sensitization capabilities of these nanoclusters by depositing them onto anatase TiO2 substrates. Quantum chemical calculations were carried out to investigate the impact of protecting ligands on photoactivities. After that, the nanoclusters with optimum photoactivities were further used to explore the photocatalytic properties. Since metal sites were generally considered active centers for heterogeneous catalysis, the alloying effects of the metal core were studied by incorporating Ag atoms into it. And photocatalytic hydrogen evolution was used as a touch stone reaction for exploring the metal core. Gradient tuning of metal composition of the metal core had been achieved, which exhibited a volcanic-like trend toward hydrogen evolution. Ab initio calculations were employed to correlate the relationship between the metal composition and catalytic activities. In addition, the centrally, mono-doped Ag25 nanoclusters with group-VIII heteroatoms were also studied. Although the staggered energy levels between the nanoclusters and the substrate greatly promoted the hydrogen production rates of the whole photocatalysis system, the heteroatoms doping into the innermost core deteriorated the photocatalytic activities of the nanoclusters.

Featuring size-tunable electrical and optical properties, semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) attract intensive interest in developing promising functional materials for optoelectronic appli-cations. The surface ligands not only play an important role in the synthesis and colloidal sta-bility of NCs, but also significantly affect their photophysical and electrochemical properties. In this dissertation, I am dealing with the surface ligand engineering of NCs (including both perovskite and metal chalcogenide families) for optical and photocatalytic applications. Polymer ligands are regarded to enable better colloidal stability, durability and processability of fluorescent NCs, which is especially important for perovskite NCs. However, the current wide-used polymer ligands fail to provide sufficient surface passivation for the NCs, which is unfavorable for their luminescence. To address this issue, a dual-ligand system based on par-tially hydrolyzed poly(methyl methacrylate) (h-PMMA) and highly branched polyethyl-enimine (PEI) was designed to stabilize perovskite NCs. The hydrophobic polymer of h-PMMA imparts excellent film-forming properties and durability to the resulting NC-polymer composite. The PEI forms an amino-rich, strongly binding ligand layer on the surface of the NCs being responsible for the significant improvement of the photoluminescence quantum yield and the stability of the resulting material. These superior properties allowed us to fabri-cate a proof-of-concept thin film organic light-emitting diode (OLED) with h-PMMA/PEI-stabilized perovskite NCs. A further insight into the roles of double polymer ligands (h-PMMA and PEI) during the mechanosynthesis of perovskites nanoparticles (NPs) was pro-vided. The h-PMMA can form micelles in the grinding solvent of dichloromethane to act as size-regulating templates for the growth of NPs. The PEI with large amounts of amino groups induced enrichment of PbBr2 in the reaction mixture, which in turn caused the formation of heterostructured CsPbBr3-CsPb2Br5-mPbBr2 and CsPbBr3-Cs4PbBr6-nCsBr NPs. Not only polymer, but also inorganic ligands can be extremely attractive for capping of NCs. In the frame of this thesis, a two-step surface modification strategy was developed to control-lably destabilize the colloidal NCs, which in turn facilitated their 3D assembly into aerogels. Specifically, the long-chain oleic acid ligands were exchanged to the ultra-short-chain inorganic (NH4)2S ligands. These new ligands were further protonated by changing the dispersing solvent, which caused desired colloidal destabilization. The as-prepared CdSe NC aerogels with highly porous and self-supporting structure were found to be attractive for solid-state photocatalysis in a gas phase. Indeed, the (NH4)2S ligand is favourable for the adsorption and activation of substrate molecules (i.e., H2O and CO2) on the large open surface of NC gel, thereby promoting the progress of CO2 photoreduction. As a result, the photocatalytic activity for CO2 reduction of CdSe NC aerogels created in this work is 12-fold higher than that of the pristine non-assembled NC-precipitates.:Abstract 1 Contents 3 Abbreviations 6 List of Figures and Tables 8 1. Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystals and their Ligand Shell 13 1.1. Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystals 14 1.1.1. Inorganic Core of NCs 15 1.1.1.1. Metal Chalcogenide NCs 16 1.1.1.2. Metal Pnictide NCs 16 1.1.1.3. Halide Perovskites NCs 17 1.1.2. The Surface Ligands for NCs 18 1.1.2.1. The Classification of Surface Ligands based on Head-Groups 18 1.1.2.2. The Classification of Surface Ligands based on Tail-Groups 19 1.2. The Role of Ligands 20 1.2.1. The Role of Ligands in the Synthesis of NCs 20 1.2.2. The Role of Ligand in Colloidal NCs Dispersion and Stability 22 1.2.3. The Role of Ligand in the Light-Matter Interactions as Applied to NCs 24 1.3. The Surface Ligand Engineering of NCs 26 1.3.1. Introducing Ligands during the Synthesis 26 1.3.2. Introducing the Ligands during Post-Synthesis Process 27 1.4. Challenges to be Addressed in this Dissertation 29 2. Polymer Ligands Enhance the Stability and Fluorescence of Perovskite for Optical Application 31 2.1. Background and Motivation 32 2.2. Results and Discussion 34 2.2.1. Spectral Characterization 34 2.2.2. Morphological Characterization 40 2.2.3. Surface Composition 41 2.2.4. Processability, Stability and Durability 43 2.2.5. Green-LED 46 2.3. Conclusions 48 3. Polymer Ligands Assist Mechanosynthesis of Perovskite Nanoparticles 49 3.1. Background and Motivation 50 3.2. Results and Discussion 50 3.2.1 Morphology and Composition 51 3.2.2 Formation and Phase Conversion of the Nanoparticles 53 3.2.3. Spectral Characterization 58 3.3. Conclusions 60 4. Ligand Protonation Promote 3D Assembly of CdSe Nanocrystals for CO2 Photoreduction 62 4.1. Background and Motivation 63 4.2. Results and Discussion 64 4.2.1. The Gelation Method 64 4.2.2. Surface Composition of the NC Aerogels 67 4.2.3. Performance of CdSe-S Aerogels in Photoreduction of CO2 68 4.2.4. Photocatalytic Mechanism of the CdSe-S/Ni Aerogel 70 4.3. Conclusion 73 5. Conclusions and Perspectives 75 Appendix. Experimental Section 78 A.1. Reagents 78 A.2. NCs synthesis 78 A.2.1 Mechanosynthesis of Polymer-Coordinated Perovskite NCs 78 A.2.2 Oil Phase Synthesis of Colloidal CdSe NCs 79 A.2.3 Ligand Protonation-Promoted Assembly of CdSe-S NCs into Gel 79 A.3. Optical and Photocatalytic Applications of NCs 80 A.3.1 Optical Applications of Polymer-Stabilized Perovskite NCs 80 A.3.2 Photocatalytic Applications of CdSe-S Aerogels 80 A.4. Characterization Methods 81 A.4.1 Morphology Characterization 81 A.4.2.Element Characterization 81 A.4.3 Diffraction Characterization 82 A.4.4 Spectroscopy Characterization 82 A.4.5 Gas adsorption Measurement 82 A.4.6 Electrochemical Measurements 83 A.4.7 Other Characterizations 83 A.5. Additional Data 84 Bibliography 87 List of Publications 96 Acknowledgements 98 Erklärung 100

Les fichiers additionnels sont les données cristallographiques en format CIF. Voir le site de la Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre pour un visualiseur: http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk / Ce projet de recherche vise l’élaboration de systèmes métallosupramoléculaires artificiels imitant le processus naturel de la photosynthèse. Idéalement, ces systèmes seraient capables de fournir l’énergie et la séparation de charge nécessaire pour catalyser des réactions à transfert multiélectroniques, tel que l’hydrolyse de l’eau ou la réduction du gaz carbonique. La réalisation d’un tel système catalytique créerait une source d’énergie renouvelable, sous forme d’énergie chimique, crée directement à partir de l’énergie solaire. Le système envisagé, schématisé sous la forme d’une antenne, possède trois parties distinctes. Tout d’abord, des chromophores forment un état excité en captant l’énergie de la lumière visible du soleil. Vient ensuite un centre de liaison qui lie tous les chromophores et qui collecte l’énergie de cet état excité à travers un transfert d’électron. Cet électron est de nouveau transféré vers la dernière partie, un centre réactionnel catalytique. Cet assemblage permet de créer une séparation de charge entre le chromophore et le centre réactionnel qui sont séparés par le centre de liaison, évitant ainsi la recombinaison de charge. Le projet se focalise sur la synthèse, la caractérisation et l’application en photocatalyse d’assemblages chromophore–centre de liaison–catalyseur. Tout d’abord, une étude de chromophores à base de fluorène et de rhénium a été effectuée dans le but d’évaluer le transfert électronique entre ces deux composants. Ensuite, des centres de liaisons à base de dimère de rhodium tétraamidinate ont été créés et étudiés afin d’établir leurs caractéristiques photophysiques et électrochimiques. Puis un d’entre eux a été assemblé avec des chromophores de rhénium, créant ainsi des espèces moléculaires discrètes contenant d’un à quatre chromophores. Et pour finir, ces assemblages ont été combinés avec un catalyseur à base de cobalt, puis ont été testés dans des expériences de photoproduction d’hydrogène. Cette dernière partie a requis l’élaboration d’un photoréacteur qui est aussi décrite en détail dans cet ouvrage. / This research project involves synthetic metallosupramolecular systems developed to mimic the natural process of photosynthesis. Ideally, these systems would be able to provide the energy and the charge separation needed to catalyze multielectron-transfer reactions, such as water-splitting or carbon dioxide reduction. The realization of such a catalytic system would create a renewable energy source, in the form of chemical energy, created directly from solar energy. The system envisioned has three distinct parts in the form of an antenna. First of all, chromophores go into an excited state, while capturing the visible light energy of the Sun. Then comes a hub which binds all the chromophores and collects this excited state energy through an electron transfer. This electron is then transferred again to the last part, a catalytic reaction center. This assembly creates a charge separation between the chromophore and the reaction center which are separated by the hub, thus avoiding the recombination of charge. The project focuses on the synthesis, characterization and application in photocatalysis of chromophore-hub-catalyst assemblies. First of all, a study of fluorene and rhenium based chromophores was made to assess the electronic transfer between these two components. Then, tetraamidinate rhodium dimer based hubs have been created and studied in order to establish their photophysical and electrochemical characteristics. Then one of these assemblies was formed with chromophores of rhenium, thus creating discrete molecular species containing one to four chromophores. And finally, these assemblies were combined with a cobalt-based catalyst and were tested for hydrogen photoproduction. The latter required the development of a photoreactor which is also described in detail in this thesis.

Metal oxides are of immense technological importance. Their wide variety of structural and electronic characteristics leads to a flexibility unrivalled by other groups of materials. However, there is still much debate about the fundamental properties of some of the most widely used oxides, including TiO₂ and In₂O₃. This work presents high quality, in-depth characterisation of these two oxides in pure and doped form, including soft and hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Bulk samples as well as thin film samples were prepared analysed. For the preparation of thin films a high quality sol-gel dip-coating method was developed, which resulted in epitaxial films. In more detail the organisation of the thesis is as follows: Chapter 1 provides an introduction to key ideas related to metal oxides and presents the metal oxides investigated in this thesis, In₂O₃, Ga₂O₃, Tl₂O₃, TiO₂, and SnO₂. Chapter 2 presents background information and Chapter 3 gives the practical details of the experimental techniques employed. Chapters 4 presents reciprocal space maps of MBE-grown In₂O₃ thin films and nanorods on YSZ substrates. Chapters 5 and 6 investigate the doping of In₂O₃ bulk samples with gallium and thallium and introduce a range of solid state characterisation techniques. Chapter 7 describes the development of a dip-coating sol-gel method for the growth of thin films of TiO₂ and shows 3D reciprocal space maps of the resulting films. Chapter 8 concerns hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of undoped and Sn-doped TiO₂. Chapter 9 interconnects previous chapters by presenting 2D reciprocal space maps of nano structured epitaxial samples of In₂O₃ grown by the newly developed sol-gel based method. Chapter 10 concludes this thesis with a summary of the results.

Ce travail est consacré à l'élaboration par voie humide (pontage, solvothermale et colloïdale) de photocatalyseur TiO2 supporté sur trois types de minéraux argileux d'origine marocaine: la stévensite, la beidellite et la palygorskite, à leurs caractérisations et finalement à l'évaluation de leurs activités photocatalytiques vis-à-vis de l'élimination en milieu aqueux du colorant anionique l'Orange G (OG) très utilisé en industrie textile. La stévensite et la beidellite sont toutes les deux des smectites de types magnésien trioctaédrique et aluminifère dioctaédrique respectivement. En revanche, la palygorskite est un minéral fibreux riche en Al doté d'un caractère dioctaédrique très marqué. Les matériaux photocatalyseurs supportés développés par le pontage de la stévensite ou de la beidellite ne révèlent pas de formation de piliers interlamellaires de TiO2, mais plutôt l'obtention dans les deux cas de matrice de TiO2 amorphe dans laquelle sont éparpillées quelques rares particules indemnes de phyllosilicates. De même, ceux à base de stévensite élaborés par la méthode solvothermale révèlent des particules du phyllosilicate désintégrées au sein d'une matrice de TiO2 toutefois cristallisée sous forme d'anatase. Néanmoins, la fonctionnalisation selon la voie colloïdale a permis d'immobiliser avec succès des nanoparticules d'anatase (10 nm) sur aussi bien des feuillets plus ou moins exfoliés de stévensite ou de beidellite que sur des fibres de palygorskite. L'anatase attachée aux particules de ces minéraux argileux demeure extraordinairement stable jusqu'à 900 °C alors que celle formée en absence de ces phyllosilicates se convertit complètement en rutile vers 650 °C. Cette stabilité remarquable de l'anatase supportée est due à l'empêchement de la croissance, par coalescence à haute température, de la taille de ses particules au-delà de la taille critique (30 nm) requise pour sa conversion en rutile relativement moins photoactive. Les essais de photocatalyse révèlent que l'activité catalytique des différents matériaux élaborés croit selon la méthode de fonctionnalisation: pontage - méthode solvothermale - voie colloïdale et aussi selon la nature du minéral argileux : stévensite - beidellite - palygorskite. En outre, les matériaux photocatalyseurs supportés, à base de beidellite ou de palygorskite, développés par la voie colloïdale, manifestent une activité deux fois supérieure à celle de la poudre commerciale TiO2 Degussa P25. Leurs particules floculent aisément, ce qui facilite leur élimination du milieu aqueux sans recourir à la microfilitration requise dans le cas de la Degussa P25. / This work was devoted to the elaboration by wet route (pillaring, solvothermal and colloidal) of TiO2 supported photocatalysts on three kinds of clay minerals (stevensite, beidellite and palygorskite) from Morocco, to their characterizations and finally to the evaluation of their photocatalytic activities towards the removal from aqueous media of anionic Orange G dye, widely used in textile industry. Stevensite and beidellite were magnesian trioctahedral and aluminiferous dioctahedral smectites respectively. Nevertheless, palygorskite was a fibrous Al-rich clay mineral with a predominant dioctahedral character. The photocatalyst materials elaborated by the pillaring of stevensite or beidellite did not reveal the formation of TiO2 interlayer pillars, but the observation of an amorphous matrix of Ti-rich phase within which were distributed some rare unaltered particles of phyllosilicates. Those based on stevensite elaborated according to solvothermal method also showed dissolved phyllosilicates particles, but within crystalline TiO2 anatase matrix. Nevertheless, the functionalized materials developed according to colloidal route exhibited successful immobilization of anatase nanoparticles (10 nm) onto as well as more or less exfoliated layers of stevensite or beidellite than on palygorskite fibers. Anatase remained remarkably stable up to 900 °C when attached to particles of clay minerals in comparison with that developed in their absence which underwent a complete transformation into rutile at around 650°C. This remarkable stability at high temperature of anatase supported on clay minerals particles was due to the hindrance of particles growth by sintering whose the sizes remained below the nucleus critical sizes (30 nm) required for its transition into less photoactive rutile. The photocatalysis tests revealed that the catalytic activity of different elaborated materials increased according to the synthesis route: pillaring process - solvothermal method - colloidal route and according to the nature of clay mineral: stevensite - beidellite - palygorskite. In addition, the supported photocatalysts based on beidellite or palygorskite prepared by colloidal route were found to be twice more active than the commercial TiO2 powder Degussa P25. Furthermore, their particles easily floculated so that they are readily removable from treated solutions without resorting to expensive microfiltration required upon the use of Degussa P25.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden Möglichkeiten der Stabilisierung und die photokatalytische Aktivität von Polymorphen des Bismut(III)-oxids, synthetisiert ausgehend von nanoskaligen, polynuklearen Bismutoxidoclustern, beschrieben. Hydrolyse- und Kondensationsstudien werden mit dem Ziel der Aufklärung von Bildungsprozessen von Bismutoxidoclustern ausgehend von bismutnitrat- und bismutsilanolathaltigen Lösungen durchgeführt. Basierend auf polynuklearen Modellverbindungen wird durch deren Hydrolyse und anschließende thermische Behandlung die Darstellung von Nanopartikeln von verschiedenen Polymorphen des Bismut(III)-oxids erreicht. Die Reaktivität der synthetisierten β Bi2O3 Nanopartikel wird zur Synthese von Verbindungen vom Sillenit-Strukturtyp ausgenutzt. Diese Verbindungen sind isostrukturell zum metastabilen γ-Bi2O3. Die isolierten oxidischen Materialien weisen eine hohe photokatalytische Aktivität gegenüber wässrigen Rhodamin B Lösungen bei der Bestrahlung mit sichtbarem Licht auf. Für die β Bi2O3 Nanopartikel wird ebenso die photokatalytische Aktivität gegenüber wässrigen Farbstofflösungen von Indigokarmin, Orange G, Methylorange und Methylenblau sowie wässrigen Schadstofflösungen von Phenol, 4-Chlorphenol, 2,4-Dichlorphenol, 4-Nitrophenol, Triclosan und Ethinylestradiol beschrieben. Die Charakterisierung der synthetisierten Verbindungen erfolgte unter anderem mittels Einkristall-Röntgenstrukturanalyse, Röntgenpulverdiffraktometrie, NMR-Spektroskopie, FTICR-ESI-Massenspektrometrie, UV/Vis-, Infrarot- und Ramanspektroskopie sowie thermischen Analysemethoden. / The present essay describes the stabilization and photocatalytic activity of different polymorphs of bismuth(III) oxide which were prepared starting from nanoscaled, polynuclear bismuth oxido clusters. Hydrolysis and condensation processes of bismuth nitrate as well as bismuth silanolates in solution were performed to provide an insight into the formation process of bismuth oxido clusters. Nanoparticles of different polymorphs of bismuth(III) oxide were obtained by hydrolysis, followed by annealing steps at temperatures of 370 °C and 600 °C starting from polynuclear bismuth compounds, respectively. The high reactivity of the as-prepared β-Bi2O3 nanoparticles was used to synthesize sillenite-type compounds at rather low temperatures which are isostructural to metastable γ-Bi2O3. The isolated oxidic materials show promising photocatalytic activities exemplified by the degradation of aqueous Rhodamine B solutions under visible light irradiation. Additionally, the β- Bi2O3 nanoparticles were tested in photodegradation processes of aqueous solutions containing different dyes such as indigo carmine, orange G, methyl orange and methylene blue as well as typical organic pollutants such as phenol, 4-chlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol, 4-nitrophenol, triclosan and ethinyl estradiol. The characterization of the as-prepared materials was performed using single crystal X-ray diffraction, powder X-ray diffraction analysis, NMR spectroscopy, FTICR- electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, UV/Vis-, IR- and Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopy, nitrogen physisorption as well as thermal analyses.

Am Beispiel von ferroelektrischen Systemen auf Bismut-Basis (Bismutmolybdat, Bismutwolframat und Bismuttitanat) und von Strontiumbariumniobat werden neue Möglichkeiten zur Synthese solcher Nanopartikel aufgezeigt. Die Integration der Nanopartikel in transparente Nanokompositmaterialien und die Entwicklung neuer Precursoren für die Herstellung von Dünnschichtproben gehen den Untersuchungen zur Anwendung als elektrooptische aktive Materialien voraus. Durch weitere Anwendungsmöglichkeiten in der Photokatalyse, dem Test dampfadsorptiver Eigenschaften mit Hilfe eines neuartigen Adsorptionstesters (Infrasorb) und auch mit Hilfe der Ergebnisse der ferroelektrischen Charakterisierung von gesinterten Probenkörpern aus einem Spark-Plasma-Prozess wird ein gesamtheitlicher Überblick über die vielfältigen Aspekte in der Arbeit mit nanoskaligen, ferroelektrischen Materialien gegeben.

Catalysis using nanostructures has been a topic of substantial interest for fundamental studies and for practical applications in energy and environmental sectors. The growing demand for production of energy and in the cleaning of polluting hazardous vehicles/industrial wastes has led to several studies in catalysis. Despite the substantial growth of heterogeneous catalytic technologies in last decade, they are still far from reaching their full potential in terms of efficiency, selectivity as well as durability. It is often difficult to simultaneously tackle all the mentioned issues with single component catalysts. Most of these challenges are being overcome with heterostructures/supported hybrid catalysts by modifying their interfaces. The properties of heterostructures hybrids arises not only from the individual contributions of the individual components but also from strong synergetic effect arising from the interface. Engineering the interfaces provides pathways to promote the catalytic performance and hence has been explored. In this regard, we have focused on the progress in investigating the active interfaces that affect the performance of metal oxide-metal, semiconductor-metal and coupled semiconductor nanocatalyst hybrids. We explored a wide spectrum of their applications in photo catalytic, electrocatalytic as well as gas-phase reactions and highlighted the importance of the interface for overall performance. The entire study reported in the thesis is organized as follows: Chapter 1 is a general introduction of hybrid nanocatalyst and their role in wide spectra of catalytic reactions in photo/electro catalysis as well as gas-phase reactions. This chapter describes the motivation behind modulating the interface between two or more nanostructures to obtain multifunctional nanocatalysts. Nan catalysts to achieve high throughput with active interfaces are elaborated while indicating the role of morphology, internal induced state, charge transfer, geometric, support, as well as electronic effect for enhanced performance. Motivation behind specific nanocatalyst hybrid, synthesis routes as well as characterization techniques are detailed in the respective chapters. Specific details for different hybrids are described in the following chapters. Chapter 2 describes the synthesis of high dense ultrathin Au wires on ZnO nanorods for electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol, where the prerequisite step is the formation of amine-modified support. Oleylamine modification not only serves to anchor Au nanowires on ZnO but also passivates surface defects of ZnO, which in turn enhances the photocurrent. In addition to the stability, the support induces electronic effect on Au nanowires, which facilitates redox process at low potential. Most importantly, the support promotes the activity of Au nanowires upon photoirradiation, and thus leading to synergy between electro and photooxidation current. This is of immense importance for photofuel cell technologies. Moreover, the method enabled the first time electrocatalysis on these nanowires that revealed ultrathin nanowires are potentially interesting systems for catalysis applications provided they are stabilized by a suitable support. Chapter 3 deals with the growth of ultrathin Au nanowires on metal oxide (TiO2) coupled with graphene hybrid support in order to overcome the low conductivity of metal oxide. Oleylamine, used for growth of Au nanowires simultaneously functionalizes the support and leads to room temperature GO reduction. With respect to catalytic activity, we also synthesized the binary counterparts (rGO/Au, TiO2/Au ultrathin nanowires) to delineate the contribution of each of the components to the overall electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol. Comparative analysis of photo and electrocatalytic activity between the different binary and ternary hybrids provides interesting information. Both, electronic effect of TiO2 and electrical conductivity of rGO add their specific beneficial to the nanowires, leading to superior ternary system. Chapter 4 rGO supported ultrathin Au nanowires exhibits high electrocatalytic performance for oxidation of borohydride with a lower onset potential compared to rGO/Au nanoparticles. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements display abnormal inductive behavior of the synthesized hybrids, indicative of Au surface reactivation. DFT calculations indicate that the origin of the high activity stems from the shift in the position of the Au d-band center. Chapter 5 Different aspect ratio ZnO nanostructures are obtained by varying the solvothermal reaction time. We observed a direct correlation between observed photocatalytic activity, measured photocurrent and length of the ZnO nanorods. Furthermore, photoresponse of the high aspect ratio ZnO nanorods are improved by attaching Au nanoparticles, intimate contact of two components leads to band bending. Thus, the synthesized ZnO/Au heterostructure favors for prominent separation of photogenerated charge carriers. Chapter 6 TiO2 and PbO/TiO2 hybrids are synthesized via non–hydrolytic sol–gel combustion method. Hybrid exhibits higher photocatalytic activity for the degradation of dye than TiO2. The estimated photogenerated species reveals that the origin of enhanced activity stems from the direct oxidization of dye via photogenerated hole rather than radicals. The semiconductors are matched based on their band edge positions, for the formation of energetic radicals to degrade the pollutants. Based on this study, we infer that semiconductors should not neglected (for example Si) based on calculated mismatch of their valence band edges position for photooxidation reaction via radicals. Chapter 7 describes the Pd dopant associated band engineering, a strategy for tuning the optoelectronic properties of ZnO towards enhanced photocatalytic activity. Incorporated Pd heterocation induces internal energy states within the ZnO band gap. The created energy level leads to trends mismatch between photocatalytic activity and measured photocurrent. Formed energy level arrests the photogenerated electrons, which make them not contribute for the photocurrent generation. Hence, the isolated photogenerated hole efficiently oxidizes the pollutants through hydroxyl radicals, and thus leads to enhanced photocatalytic activity. Chapter 8 employed Pd-substituted zinc stannate for CO oxidation as heterogeneous catalyst for the first time. Compared with SnO2 support, zinc stannate based materials exhibits abnormal sudden light-off profiles at selective temperatures. On the basis of DRIFT studies under relevant conditions, we find that the initially formed product gets adsorbed over the catalyst surface. It leads to the accumulation of carbonates as a consequence, both lattice oxygen mobility and further CO interactions are disabled. As soon as Sn redox nature dominates over the accumulated carbonates, this leads to sudden release of lattice oxygen, and thus leads to a sudden full conversion. Therefore, choosing the suitable support material greatly influences the nature of the light-off CO oxidation profile. Chapter 9 Although, reducible oxide supported gold nanostructures exhibits the highest CO oxidation activity; they still suffer from problems such as limited selectivity towards CO in the presence of H2. Both ex-situ and in-situ experiments demonstrate that, Au nanoparticles supported on Zn2SnO4 matrix selectively oxidizes CO. DRIFT experiments revealed that the involvement of OH groups leads to the formation of hydroxycarbonyl under PROX conditions. Chapter 10 This chapter discusses the conclusions for the previous chapters and highlights the possibilities for future scope for the developed nanocatalysts hybrids for energy and environmental applications.